ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the epistemological wiring of intent and agency in suicide. It explains what Michel Foucault's contention offers towards understanding the constitution of agency in the material act of suicide. The chapter deploys elements of Judith Butler's work to theorize a way of thinking of suicide that furthers Foucault's contribution, namely, his take on author and authorship as a site of examining agency in suicide. It rewires the conceptual mechanics of Emile Durkheim's approach to understanding agency in suicide. Emile Durkheim's sociological theorization of suicide did not directly focus on intent or agency. The chapter argues that positioning suicide as relational and already part of discourse does not make the act of taking one's life any less deliberate. Before considering JanMohamed's analysis of understanding suicide, it discusses his point about reflexivity and self-awareness. The notion of relationality needs more attention in the study of suicide and suicidal behavior.
