Ep #94:Social clinics of solidarity: Dr Letizia Bonanno on the Practices & Modes of Care in Athens

The Familiar Strange

This week Familiar Stranger Tim speaks with Dr Letizia Bonanno. Dr Letizia Bonanno is a medical anthropologist working on issues of care and pharmaceuticals. In March 2019 she earned her PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Manchester. In their conversation, Tim asks Letizia about her fieldwork in a social clinic of solidarity in Athens and the impact of austerity policies on people seeking healthcare in Greece at that time. They also discuss modes and practices of care during times of crisis. Their conversation also touches on the role of graphic ethnography as a form of ethnographic practice and as a way to make sense of the ironic and paradoxical situations one often finds themselves presented with during fieldwork. Letizia is also a passionate advocate for bringing anthropology to broader audiences outside of academia and speaks about her role as a visual editor for Otherwise Magazine, an initiative dedicated to storytelling through ethnographic research, activism, fiction and non-fiction writing, poetry, and visual essays. As someone who has been following her work for some time it was a real privilege to be able to speak with her.