The Polis Project
@thepolisproject.bsky.social
NY-based digital magazine documenting communities in resistance at the intersection of politics, art & culture. 501(c)(3)
Read Aabha Muralidharan's latest: thepolisproject.com/read/malayal...
How Malayalam Films Turn State Failure Into Personal Burden
Malayalam films like Action Hero Biju, Anjaam Pathiraa, and Kuttavum Shikashayum transform state failures into individual dilemmas.
thepolisproject.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Read Aabha Muralidharan's latest: thepolisproject.com/read/malayal...
To make the private a public would then demand a different form of imagination. The bourgeoisie would no longer be able to imagine itself as the savior. It would have to see itself as the limit. Opening the wound would mean telling the story from the dispossessed's point of view.
November 5, 2025 at 9:52 AM
To make the private a public would then demand a different form of imagination. The bourgeoisie would no longer be able to imagine itself as the savior. It would have to see itself as the limit. Opening the wound would mean telling the story from the dispossessed's point of view.
This is how denial, neoliberalism, and capital work together to produce a subject who carries the weight of a disintegrated system. The films never ask why Biju, Anwar, or Sajan need to do so much. Instead, it celebrates their endless energy.
November 5, 2025 at 9:52 AM
This is how denial, neoliberalism, and capital work together to produce a subject who carries the weight of a disintegrated system. The films never ask why Biju, Anwar, or Sajan need to do so much. Instead, it celebrates their endless energy.
Kuttavum Shikshayum begins with a jolt from the unconscious: CI Sajan Philip (Asif Ali) is haunted by a dream where he shoots a protester. Yet, Sajan’s grief does not lead to rupture; instead, it becomes a private burden that lets him continue working. The protestor is not remembered or named.
November 5, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Kuttavum Shikshayum begins with a jolt from the unconscious: CI Sajan Philip (Asif Ali) is haunted by a dream where he shoots a protester. Yet, Sajan’s grief does not lead to rupture; instead, it becomes a private burden that lets him continue working. The protestor is not remembered or named.
Anjaam Pathiraa shifts this function to the outsourced consultant—still individualized, but mediated through investigative expertise of Anwar Hussain. The labor of the psychologist appears autonomous, but is structurally in service of reimposing order and bypassing democratic frameworks.
November 5, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Anjaam Pathiraa shifts this function to the outsourced consultant—still individualized, but mediated through investigative expertise of Anwar Hussain. The labor of the psychologist appears autonomous, but is structurally in service of reimposing order and bypassing democratic frameworks.
Action Hero Biju presents a disturbing vision of a society where institutions create a void that is filled by a singular, authoritarian figure. Biju's role as a self-appointed protector valorizes individual heroism to mask state withdrawal — masculinity holds together the illusion of order.
November 5, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Action Hero Biju presents a disturbing vision of a society where institutions create a void that is filled by a singular, authoritarian figure. Biju's role as a self-appointed protector valorizes individual heroism to mask state withdrawal — masculinity holds together the illusion of order.
Like the state, Malayalam cinema responds with characters who do not grieve but only function. Police procedurals and investigative thrillers function as ideological tools, wherein the broken social contract is displaced onto the bodies of highly exhorting, hyper-functional male protagonists.
November 5, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Like the state, Malayalam cinema responds with characters who do not grieve but only function. Police procedurals and investigative thrillers function as ideological tools, wherein the broken social contract is displaced onto the bodies of highly exhorting, hyper-functional male protagonists.
Read Sara Tanveer's latest: thepolisproject.com/read/the-ita...
The Italian Model: How Workers Shut Down Italy For Palestine - The Polis Project
thepolisproject.com
October 21, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Read Sara Tanveer's latest: thepolisproject.com/read/the-ita...
In an increasingly militarized and unequal Europe, Italy’s strikes have demonstrated that workers still have power. Whether they can wield it decisively enough to change the course of war and empire remains an open question, one that resonates far beyond Italy’s borders.
October 21, 2025 at 10:33 AM
In an increasingly militarized and unequal Europe, Italy’s strikes have demonstrated that workers still have power. Whether they can wield it decisively enough to change the course of war and empire remains an open question, one that resonates far beyond Italy’s borders.
The power of organized labor to disrupt strategic infrastructure demonstrates the realm of possibility when unions see themselves as political actors, not just workplace advocates. Italian unions openly challenge foreign policy, militarization, and corporate complicity in war.
October 21, 2025 at 10:33 AM
The power of organized labor to disrupt strategic infrastructure demonstrates the realm of possibility when unions see themselves as political actors, not just workplace advocates. Italian unions openly challenge foreign policy, militarization, and corporate complicity in war.
Italy is trying to play both sides. At the United Nations, Prime Minister Meloni condemned Hamas’s October 7 attack and Israel’s “disproportionate” military response. Italy has voted for UN resolutions supporting a two-state solution.
October 21, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Italy is trying to play both sides. At the United Nations, Prime Minister Meloni condemned Hamas’s October 7 attack and Israel’s “disproportionate” military response. Italy has voted for UN resolutions supporting a two-state solution.
The alliance between labor and Palestinian solidarity in Italy is not a sudden development. Laila Hassan, one of the main organizers of Giovani Palestinesi, revealed a two-year organizing effort.
“This alliance between young Palestinians and base unions has been in the works for almost two years.”
“This alliance between young Palestinians and base unions has been in the works for almost two years.”
October 21, 2025 at 10:33 AM
The alliance between labor and Palestinian solidarity in Italy is not a sudden development. Laila Hassan, one of the main organizers of Giovani Palestinesi, revealed a two-year organizing effort.
“This alliance between young Palestinians and base unions has been in the works for almost two years.”
“This alliance between young Palestinians and base unions has been in the works for almost two years.”
The strike’s power stemmed from its sectoral composition. “Port workers and the logistics sector are the strategic chokepoints,” USB’s De Angelis explained. “When you block the ports, you’re actually interrupting the flow of goods, including military equipment.”
October 21, 2025 at 10:33 AM
The strike’s power stemmed from its sectoral composition. “Port workers and the logistics sector are the strategic chokepoints,” USB’s De Angelis explained. “When you block the ports, you’re actually interrupting the flow of goods, including military equipment.”
Italian unions are able to call political strikes because of their unique structure. “The Italian confederal union experience is almost unique,” says trade unionist Salvatore Marra from CGIL. “We address general issues, not just labor. International solidarity and pacifism are CGIL’s core beliefs.”
October 21, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Italian unions are able to call political strikes because of their unique structure. “The Italian confederal union experience is almost unique,” says trade unionist Salvatore Marra from CGIL. “We address general issues, not just labor. International solidarity and pacifism are CGIL’s core beliefs.”
Italy’s general strike offers a model in which organized labor leads the charge. Solidarity with Palestine is inseparable from the opposition to austerity, low wages, and the military-industrial complex.
October 21, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Italy’s general strike offers a model in which organized labor leads the charge. Solidarity with Palestine is inseparable from the opposition to austerity, low wages, and the military-industrial complex.
Two days earlier, on October 2, Israeli naval forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters. When they seized the boats and arrested the crew, Italian workers decided they had had enough.
“We said we would block everything, and we did,” says Stefano De Angelis.
“We said we would block everything, and we did,” says Stefano De Angelis.
October 21, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Two days earlier, on October 2, Israeli naval forces intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters. When they seized the boats and arrested the crew, Italian workers decided they had had enough.
“We said we would block everything, and we did,” says Stefano De Angelis.
“We said we would block everything, and we did,” says Stefano De Angelis.
Saving women in Gaza requires urgent action. However, the constant onslaught and the ongoing genocide have suspended all human rights, including those of women and girls, to survive with dignity.
October 21, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Saving women in Gaza requires urgent action. However, the constant onslaught and the ongoing genocide have suspended all human rights, including those of women and girls, to survive with dignity.
In an overcrowded school shelter in Deir al-Balah, 19-year-old Fatima (pseudonym) lives with trauma that she cannot speak about. She has been living in dilapidated classrooms turned into makeshift shelters. While waiting for food in a queue, she was sexually harassed by a man.
October 21, 2025 at 10:27 AM
In an overcrowded school shelter in Deir al-Balah, 19-year-old Fatima (pseudonym) lives with trauma that she cannot speak about. She has been living in dilapidated classrooms turned into makeshift shelters. While waiting for food in a queue, she was sexually harassed by a man.
“At a sand hill known as Al-Nuweiri — the last point separating north from south Gaza — I went into labor. I only realized I had given birth when I saw a tiny body drop to the ground. I spread the only cloth I had and there, on bare asphalt, I miscarried my twins.”
October 21, 2025 at 10:27 AM
“At a sand hill known as Al-Nuweiri — the last point separating north from south Gaza — I went into labor. I only realized I had given birth when I saw a tiny body drop to the ground. I spread the only cloth I had and there, on bare asphalt, I miscarried my twins.”
Nancy Abu Mousa, 23, walked ten kilometers on foot from Al-Nasr neighborhood in northern Gaza to the south. It was an 18-hour journey. Pregnant with twins at six months, she had carried her two-year-old daughter on her back and pushed her injured husband on a cart.
October 21, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Nancy Abu Mousa, 23, walked ten kilometers on foot from Al-Nasr neighborhood in northern Gaza to the south. It was an 18-hour journey. Pregnant with twins at six months, she had carried her two-year-old daughter on her back and pushed her injured husband on a cart.
Besides healthcare, women have also been robbed of privacy. “There is nowhere to change or bathe. I wait until darkness to relieve myself in an empty agricultural field behind the camp, but the fear of harassment or assault is constant,” Sadiqa adds.
October 21, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Besides healthcare, women have also been robbed of privacy. “There is nowhere to change or bathe. I wait until darkness to relieve myself in an empty agricultural field behind the camp, but the fear of harassment or assault is constant,” Sadiqa adds.