Subaltern

Subaltern is a term used in political and cultural theory to describe populations that exist outside the power structure of a dominant group. It refers to groups whose social, economic, and political marginalization keeps them from shaping or controlling mainstream discourse and policy. The concept emphasizes power relations and the relative inability of these groups to participate in the centers of political life and knowledge production.

The term originated with the Italian Marxist theorist Antonio Gramsci, who used it to denote subordinate classes in civil society that are outside the ruling hegemony. Gramsci’s idea highlighted how ordinary people and non-elite groups can be excluded from political and ideological leadership, even when they are essential to the functioning of society.

In the 1980s, the Subaltern Studies collective in South Asia, including Ranajit Guha and Partha Chakrabarti, extended the term to examine colonial and postcolonial history. They sought to recenter the histories of peasants, workers, lower castes, women, and other marginalized actors who had been neglected or misrepresented by elite historiography, arguing that power relations shape who can narrate the past.

The concept has sparked substantial debate. Gayatri Spivak’s essay Can the Subaltern Speak? challenged the assumption that marginalized groups can be easily represented within dominant discourses, highlighting the difficulties of authentic voice and agency in the face of prevailing power structures. Critics have debated the limits of representation, the scope of subaltern agency, and the risks of essentializing oppressed groups.

Today, subaltern remains a flexible analytic used across postcolonial studies, critical theory, gender studies, and anthropology. It serves as a reminder that power asymmetries shape whose voices are heard, whose histories are told, and whose perspectives are treated as legitimate knowledge.