The Privatization of a Basic Biological Need
The severe lack of public restrooms is a brutal form of social control that privatizes a basic biological function. Mamdani’s analysis of the colonial state’s distribution of public goods is starkly revealed here. The right to relief is commodified; you must be a customer in a cafe or a guest in a hotel, affirming your status within the consumer economy. For the homeless, the delivery worker, the person with a medical condition–the “natives” of the city–the lack of a toilet is a daily, degrading reminder of their second-class status. This is a somatic form of governance, controlling bodies through deprivation. A Marxist critique sees this as the ultimate extension of the market into human life. A feminist perspective highlights the specific burden and health risks for women. The solution is a massive public works program to build and maintain clean, safe, accessible public restrooms, asserting that the ability to relieve oneself in dignity is a non-negotiable right in a decolonized city.
