Dr Ritu Verma (Ritz) 🌍 🌏 🕊️
Anthropologist • Political Ecologist • Author • Photographer • Adventurer • Thinking out of the box • Acting with a conscience •
Degrowth • Wellbeing Alternatives • Climate Change • Loss&Damage • Development • Decoloniality • Bhutan • Madagascar • Kenya •
- As we bring in a new year filled with fast-paced news that is often disturbing and stressful, I am elated to share a slight deviation to ease the current trend: my article "Going Slow in Bhutan" in the latest issue of Tashi Delek Magazine, the inflight magazine of Drukair. Stay tuned for the book!
- Happy New Year! May it bring peace, contentment & kindness! I ended 2026 by handing out "Packets of Hope" to unhoused people with a good friend - an amazing experience - more on this soon! As 2026 begins, I feel humbled to follow the #WalkforPeace, as Buddhist monks walk to bring peace to our world.
- 🧵 These humble Buddhist monks are being met and supported by thousands as they make their journey. Some are walking barefoot. For those who took my class on this subject, this is Socially Engaged Buddhism at work! It can literally change the world, and move mountains. May peace prevail on earth! 🙏
- 2.5 years after the EU Beyond Growth Conference, it was great to attend the smaller meeting on Eradicating Poverty Beyond Growth in Europe. Questions remain about the inter-relation between moving beyond growth in Europe and colonial/neocolonial relations with the global south. More on this soon!
- 🧵 Wonderful to catch up with UN Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights Olivier De Schutter, François Denuit and others on #degrowth, as well as to make new connections. Also, lovely to reconnect with fellow past Board of Governor of the Land Portal Foundation Magdalena Anna Kropiwnicka.
- Never forgotten. On December 6, 1989, a lone gunman walked into the engineering school Ecole Polytechnique. He separated the young women students from the men, and murdered 14 women point blank with a semi-automatic machine gun. This event utterly shattered many people's lives. #ecolepolytechnique 🧵
- 🧵It also became a turning point for me, as it changed the way I viewed things forever. It laid the ground for my life in student politics including co-founding POWE McGill, and later my career in development and academia, as the struggle for gender equality across the world became a central drive.
- 🧵It also changed Canada forever. December 6th would become a national day to recognize our fight to end all forms of violence against women. Today, ceremonies and vigils are taking place all across our country. Never forgotten. We will always remember. #endGBV #endviolenceagainstwomen #genderjustice
- It was great to give a talk on Decolonial Degrowth at the @icta-uab.bsky.social for The Real Project in Barcelona. Enjoyed giving the lecture and responding to the insightful questions in the Q&A. #degrowth #postgrowth #decolonial #beyondGDP #beyondgrowth #globalsouth #colonialjustice
- Delighted to be speaking at the NGO Interest Group roundtable "Things Fall Apart: A Roundtable on the Seen and Unseen in the NGO/NPO World" at the annual meetings of the American Anthropological Association. The session take place tomorrow, November 20 from 10:15-11:45 am, Marriott Room Galerie 2.
- Check out our panel "Himalayan panel, "When the Past Collides with the Present: Historical Legacies, Cultural-Ecological Landscapes and the Spirit(s) of Resistance", taking place this Friday, at the annual meetings of the @americananthro.bsky.social: 10:15-11:45 am, Marriott Room Studio 7.
- 🧵 Looking forward to an exciting panel, with ethnographic papers on Tibet by Dr. Nancy Levine and Tsehua Caihuajia, Bhutan by Dr. David Hecht and Gyempo Wangchuk, and northern Bhutan by Dr. Ritu Verma, with discussant Dr. Lisa Gezon. #anthropology #AAA2025 #ethnography #himalayas #tibet #bhutan
- The darkest force underlying the climate emergency, is the systematic, funded and coordinated propagation of a "storm of lies" by corporate-supported media - @George Monbiot in an important piece in @theguardian.com. "We cannot fight the climate crisis without also fighting the epistemic crisis".
- Climate breakdown is driven by a storm of lies. This lying is systemic, funded and coordinated, and operates across almost all media, old and new. This week's column argues that we cannot fight the climate crisis without also fighting the epistemic crisis. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
- In celebration of the 70th Birth Anniversary of the 4th King of Bhutan, His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo, I dedicate my latest travel article on "Bhutan's Lineage of Dragon Kings" in the November-December issue of Tashi Delek Magazine, the inflight travel magazine of Drukair Royal Bhutan Airlines.
- The piece discusses the history and lineage of Bhutan's 5 Kings, and their legacy on the nation of Bhutan. Stay tuned for the book (I promise, it's coming soon 😅)! I add my humble wishes to thousands of Bhutanese across the country and around the world in wishing His Majesty a very Happy Birthday! 🙏
- Happy Thanksgiving to friends, colleagues and everyone in Canada, and to all Canadians friends in Nepal, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Philippines, Bhutan, England, South Africa, the Pacific and around the world. Thankful for peace, abundance and kindness. May all sentient beings be happy. 🙏🏻🍁
- A hero of our planet Jane Goodall has passed away. We share this planet with other sentient beings, but human capacity for inflicting pain, violence and cruelty on them is perhaps our greatest failing as a species. Imagine if human action instead came from a place of peace, compassion and kindness?
- One of the great heroes of the planet and defenders of animal rights has passed away. She was an inspiration to millions, and tirelessly fought for the rights of the voiceless, and the very survival of our planet and all beings who live on it. Rest in power Dr. Jane Goodall. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
- Delighted to share that two of my working papers were published by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, as part of critically important and timely Roadmap on Moving Beyond GDP. #degrowth #postgrowth #movingbeyondgdp #movingbeyondgrowth #poverty #equality
- 🧵 The 1st is on the "State of Play of Moving Beyond GDP Alternatives", and the 2nd is on "Moving Beyond GDP: Global South and Decolonial Perspectives". Both written inputs will be published as part of my upcoming book on degrowth from a global south lens, forthcoming in 2026 by Agenda Publishing.
- My thoughts are with everyone in my former home Kathmandu, Nepal, as parts of the city literally burns. The government has fallen, amidst the killing of 19 youth by armed forces. May peace, justice & freedom prevail. And may things be resolved through peace and wisdom, not violence and destruction.🙏🏼
- Happy 90th Birthday to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. May His Holiness continue to radiate messages of compassion, kindness and wisdom for many, many more years to come. As long as space endures, As long as sentient beings remain, Until then, may I too remain To dispel the miseries of the world.
- Delighted to share my latest article on the culture of #meditation in #Bhutan, in the latest issue of Tashi Delek Magazine, the inflight magazine of Drukair. Meditation is at the heart of Buddhism, and by extension, Bhutan. It is key for finding inner peace and #happiness. Stay tuned for the book...
- It was an honor to speak about mindfulness and environmental consciousness in development at the Vajrayana #Buddhism conference in Thimphu, Bhutan last week. My first attempt at comparing #Madagascar and #Bhutan from an indigenous knowledge and spiritual-ecological lens, and somehow, it worked!
- 🧵 This video is a snippet of my introduction, recorded by someone in the audience, as I was dedicating my paper to my late great-uncle Yuvraj Krishan, who encouraged me to research and write about Buddhism. He himself wrote books on Buddhism, including the Doctrine of Karma and The Buddha Image.
- Some thoughts for #AlanGarber, President of #HarvardUniversity. You are a beacon of hope. Harvard University is bigger than the United States. It can survive, maybe even thrive, by expanding to hold lectures, degrees, research and hosting students, fellows and faculty in its international centers.
- The Trump administration on Thursday halted Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, a major escalation in the administration’s efforts to pressure the college to fall in line with President Trump’s demands. nyti.ms/4k8w2qB
- 🧵 With #HarvardUniversity centers across the world, including in Asia (Japan, India, etc.), Europe (France, Italy, etc.), South America (Chile, Brazil), Africa (South Africa, Tanzania, Botswana, etc.), etc. it is very well placed to continue operations in academically friendly and open environments.
- 🧵 New campuses would thrive in North America too! I am sure Canada and Mexico would be happy to welcome #HarvardUniversity campuses (students, faculty, projects, research, resources, etc.) in our cities or towns. One can imagine the awesome possibilities of collaborations with our universities too!
- Thrilled to share my latest travel article on "The Buddhist Culture of Happiness in Bhutan" in the latest May-June issue of Tashi Delek Magazine, the in-flight magazine of Drukair, Royal Bhutan Airlines. Stay tuned for the book... #Bhutan #Buddhism #mindfulness
- I had the honor of teaching Buddhist Social Theory at the Royal University of Bhutan, which was exciting and incredibly engaging, given most of my students had been practicing Buddhism since the day they were born, and in previous lifetimes no doubt!
- Election Day, Canadians need to see this! The anti-Drumpf and anti-American (made in USA, visit USA) sentiment has never been stronger. Drumpf, as usual, is not accurately reading the room. The worst politician (and businessman and human being) ever! But, it’s great for the other political parties.
- Quebec’s requirement that penalizes students for attending the Universities of McGill and Concordia is unfair, says Judge. These rules act to punish students for studying in English. Strange that the continued struggle over the language of the colonizers overshadows other languages and cultures.
- American arrogance on full display. Why the world dislikes the US. First Drumpf demands he be seated in the front row (his original seat was in the 3rd row), then he mocks the funeral by wearing blue. Complete lack of respect for cultural norms and customs. He should stick to playing golf, in Miami.
- This! “It’s amazing that others in this room underwrote electing a man who, in the last week, single-handedly destroyed all of American science. It’s amazing how much good science you can destroy with $320 million and RFK Jr, very fast.” — Seth Rogen’s censored remarks presenting Breakthrough Prize
- @vanityfair.com An 11-minute climate emission spewing non-scientific billionaire joy ride to the edge of space, is not space travel. Although awesome views from the windows, it’s luxury space tourism for the ultra wealthy, replete with designer outfits, celebrity navel-gazing and big entitlement.
- Hands off! Protests happening across the US today.
- This! Integrity means standing firm on your principles, even when things get tough. It means sacrificing a little to ensure your values and ideals of democracy, freedom, justice and equality prevail. This entails struggle. People need to speak up, rise up, and take action against dark forces. Now.
- True that. Is anyone tracking how much Drumpf and his family, cronies and allies have gained from buying cheap stocks every time the economy tanks when he announces tariffs? Because it suspiciously resembles the tactics of robber barons around the time of the Great Depression.
