Jacobin Radio Dig: Death and Life Under Capitalism w/ Sarah Jaffe
Aug 16, 2025
In this conversation with Sarah Jaffe, a columnist and author, they navigate the intersection of grief and capitalism. Jaffe discusses how traditional mourning is often stifled by societal expectations around productivity. The chat highlights the collective experiences of loss during crises like the pandemic and deindustrialization, emphasizing the urgent need for community support. They explore the role of grief in fueling political activism, and challenge conventional views on emotional expression in radical spaces.
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Grief Is Political
- Grief is both intensely personal and an overlooked political question embedded in social structures.
- Sarah Jaffe wrote the book she wished existed to connect personal loss to systemic issues.
Emotions Fuel Organizing
- Organizing relies on personal stories to build collective power and requires emotional work.
- Treating emotions as irrelevant to politics ignores how movements actually form and sustain themselves.
Separate Care From Strategy
- Create dedicated spaces for emotional processing separate from strategic meetings.
- Build social infrastructure to hold trauma so strategy sessions remain effective.
