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For more than five decades, Andrew Samuels (Figure 1) continues his commitment to engage with Analytical Psychology, political activism, and critical psychotherapy. The Journal of Analytical Psychology welcomes readers to join us in celebrating Samuels's unique achievements. In this wide-ranging conversation with analyst Christopher Jerome Carter (USA), Andrew Samuels discloses personal, ethical and professional motivations for his commitment to addressing socio-political dynamics of anti-Semitism, race/racism, sex, gender identity, and oppression. Central themes of this discussion include the role of allyship, the risks and responsibilities of political engagement in clinical practice, and the tensions between theory, activism, and some controversies surrounding their reception. Samuels shares his own skepticism, privilege, and late-career self-interrogation. Carter invites Samuels to explore emerging trajectories in Jungian thought, particularly around sexuality, trans identities, spirituality, and environmental politics. Samuels challenges the audience to engage in more discernment rather than continuing the proclivity towards dogmatism during this “political turn” in psychotherapy. The Samuels/Carter interview foregrounds the importance of intellectual honesty, disruption, and humility in sustaining a critical, ethically responsive Analytical Psychology attuned to contemporary social realities.
Carter: Welcome, Andrew.
Samuels: Hi Christopher.
Carter: Andrew, for over 20 years, you've been actively involved in political activism. You have written on gender politics, racial bias and anti-Semitism. And you were one who initiated the “Open Letter on Jung and ‘Africans’” which was published in the British Journal of Psychotherapy (Samuels et al., 2018), signed by 35 notable individuals from Jungian communities. It continues to have some buzz, both in support, and in less than supportive attitudes. You played a major role i