Solidarity is the word we pronounce proudly in exhibitions and public programs. But the doubts — about its long-term effects, about how and why we divide people, about solidarity as a gift, gesture, or hierarchy — are usually left for professional conversations we prefer to keep privat.

In the opening episode of Radio Unheard, host Asia Tsisar speaks with writer and art critic Aruna D’Souza, whose recent book Imperfect Solidarities lends its title to this episode. Together, they explore empathy as the emotional foundation of solidarity — and the unsettling ethical situations it can produce.

The conversation focuses on social media as a tool for transmitting and demanding empathy, the burden placed on victims to perform and explain their suffering for a global audience, and the competition for emotional attention. It also touches on the pressure for victims to be “understandable” within international frameworks — to translate their experience into universally relatable terms in order to be heard, helped, or remembered.

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Aruna D’Souza is a critic who is interested in how art can offer ideas for navigating an increasingly untenable world. She is a regular contributor to the New York Times and 4Columns, and has contributed to numerous books and exhibition catalogues. Whitewalling: Art, Race & Protest in 3 Acts (Badlands Unlimited) was named one of the best art books of 2018 by the New York Times. Her most recent book is Imperfect Solidarities (Floating Opera Press) from 2024.

⁠⁠www.arunadsouza.com⁠⁠

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Radio Unheard is supported by the European Union under the ⁠House of Europe⁠ programme.

The content is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

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