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The little island of Gozo lies a few nautical miles off the main land of Malta. Steeped in millennia of history the islands have been invaded by countless nations over the years leaving their mark both on the land and its resilient inhabitants.
“Belonging and Othering: The Stranger as the Projective Canvas”, this year's conference theme addresses global concerns around exclusion, structural violence, identity-based hostility, and the increasing social, political, and institutional pressures affecting both forensic systems and clinical work. Historically the islands have seen more than their fair share of failed attempts by conquering nations to impose unjust laws designed to subjugate the people. As such the islands stand in a prime position to reflect on such totalitarian systems and offer meaningful solutions through their lived experience of not just surviving but thriving after such experiences. The island of Gozo was once seen as a forsaken destination for the banished, criminal convicts and those deemed socially undesirable, “the unwelcome stranger”. Malta and Gozo are now a haven for the rich and famous and a beacon of cultural and artistic aspiration, standing out as a jewel of the Mediterranean.
Around the world, governments and institutions are enacting policies restricting personal freedoms, speech, and difference. Experiences that the islands and its people have historically, and in more contemporary times, lived through. These shifts generate intense societal anxieties, foster mechanisms of projection and boundary-making, and create hostile environments for those perceived as “strangers”. Uniquely the islands of Malta and Gozo now represent one of the safest places in the world for those on the margins of society. Despite its chequered history, Malta and Gozo have shown a steadfast commitment to the incorporation of diversity and tolerance of difference. The conference examines these dynamics through psychoanalytic and systemic thinking, exploring their i