Jesse Proudfoot

Dr. Jesse Proudfoot is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Durham University, with affiliations to the Institute for Medical Humanities. Specializing in interdisciplinary health research, they explore intersections of structural violence, illness, and subjectivity through ethnographic methods and psychoanalytic theory.

• Joined Durham's Sociology Department in Autumn 2020
• Previously affiliated with Durham's Geography Department and DePaul University
• Co-convenes modules: Drugs & Society and Health & Place
• Academic Management Group member at Institute for Medical Humanities
• Member of Health and Social Theory research cluster

Research focuses on drug use as embodied response to social trauma, structural racism, and punitive policy. Key themes include:

• Geographies of addiction and trauma
• Psychoanalytic critique of social policy
• Ethnographic exploration of pleasure/pain dynamics
• Structural violence and racialized poverty
• Interdisciplinary methodology combining geography, sociology, and psychoanalysis

Recent publications (2023-2024) examine:

• Trauma-sensitive urban environments
• Structural racism in addiction treatment
• Psychoanalytic interpretations of policy failure
• Environmental determinants of mental health
• Methodological innovations in situated knowledge
• Critical analysis of harm reduction frameworks