“Capitalism: A Ghost Story” by Arundhati Roy

Arundhati Roy published a brilliant piece called “Capitalism: A Ghost Story” at Outlook India on 26 March. Throughout this sophisticated analysis of current and evolving neoliberal capitalist structures, Roy deploys ecological challenges and crises to demonstrate the theoretical in practice.

In a particularly powerful section, Roy writes, “The Privatisation of Everything has also meant the NGO-isation of Everything…Armed with their billions, these NGOs have waded into the world, turning potential revolutionaries into salaried activists, funding artists, intellectuals and filmmakers, gently luring them away from radical confrontation, ushering them in the direction of multi-culturalism, gender, community development–the discourse couched in the language of identity politics and human rights.” And the passage goes on to explain why the substitution of the idea of justice with the “industry of human rights” narrows and channelizes the focus of analysis away from the systemic.

Well worth the reading.