Asteya: Non-Stealing in Political Capital

Asteya, yoga's ethical principle of non-stealing, extends beyond material goods to encompass appropriating others' agency, intellectual contributions, and political voice. In political psychology, asteya examines how power dynamics enable theft of narrative authority—when dominant groups claim credit for marginalized communities' ideas, or politicians appropriate grassroots movements. It also addresses how political systems systematically steal opportunity and voice from disenfranchised populations. Practicing asteya in politics means acknowledging intellectual and cultural origins of ideas, amplifying marginalized perspectives rather than appropriating them, and creating systems where political participation isn't hoarded by elites. For individual political actors, asteya requires examining whether their influence derives from genuine earned credibility or stolen authority. This principle transforms political ethics from abstract justice toward concrete practices of restitution, attribution, and power-sharing that restore stolen political voice to communities.