Ashrita Achar

ll be justice someday, high in heaven. Here on earth, charity does not disturb injustice. It only seeks to disguise it” (Galeano, 1998). Furthermore, saviourism/charity is not interested in justice, nor in changing conditions of exploitation, for it is dependent on the continuity of suffering in order for it to exist. Suffering needs to continue to... See more

an, 1982). As could be seen during and after Hurricane Katrina in the United States (2010) and the earthquake in Haiti (2010), the grave problem with Friedman’s argument is that “real change” and “alternatives” are the very opportunity through which - as Naomi Klein argues - “think tanks and land developers started talking about ‘clean sheets’ and... See more

And longing, unlike craving, is unruly. It cannot be scheduled, monetised, or disciplined into productivity. That is what makes erotic decisions so destabilising: they can’t be managed.

And like anything ferociously powerful, it was disruptive. Though lament was intended to be cathartic and apotropaic, the energy was so raw that it was sometimes blamed for starting blood feuds and sowing other strange, dark stories in families and communities.

And so, when Solon set about putting the pieces in place for a prototype of democracy, he... See more

Let’s rewind a few decades further, to the sixth century BCE, when the Athenian statesman Solon was already engaged in statecraft—was trying to build an early version of the city-state that would emerge a little later. Part of his project—a core way in which he created the conditions for a governable state—was to outlaw lament.

Lament was a ritual... See more