Deliberations on ‘The Self, and Other Stories’ by Laura J. Shepherd

Abstract Deliberating about autoethnography, fiction, and narrative at the International Studies Association Virtual Conference 2023 was possible thanks to a larger structural shift across disciplinary camps that opened a space to different ways of thinking, living, and writing international politics. Written by Laura J. Shepherd, The Self, and Other Stories demonstrates how scholars construct their selves with and through the telling of their academic and non-academic stories, and how stories help understand the ways authors’ selves relate to others across structural differences and un-knowings. This Forum is a testimony of the polyphonic conversations engendered by encountering a text, a life, and multiple and multiplying publics. As such, here are some initial agreements, protests, shifts, followings, and solidarities to the book. The authors hope those will multiply through new readings and readerships.