Not Just Holding Space: Death Work as Political Practice

What is a death doula, really? In this episode, Narinder unpacks the limits of the most common definition, "non-medical support at the end of life", and invites listeners into a much deeper understanding. With tenderness and clarity, she explores how death work is inherently political.Drawing from over a decade in the field, Narinder shares how her own practice began to reveal the inequities baked into our systems, how grief, care, and death are commodified, how the death and grief illiteracy of our society causes more harm, and how true healing comes to the collective when death workers take up space with their political work and name what’s been left out. This episode honors the work of other political death workers, including Misha Murphy of Hafez Death Care, whose approach to end-of-life care is rooted in ancestral remembering and spiritual justice. Narinder lifts up Misha’s work as an example of how death care can become a site of radical love and collective liberation.This is an invitation to all the grief tenders, death doulas, and cultural healers who know their work touches systems. Who light grief platitudes on fire and tend the sacred, raw, and real.Whether you call yourself a death doula, a grief guide, or something entirely your own, this conversation is for you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.