Can the Subaltern Speak? An Essay by Gayatri Spivak

Subaltern Subaltern is that identity that has no possibility at social mobility No possibility to speak No possibility to be heard Intransability of the Subaltern’s structural position

Photograph by Fazal Sheikh Photograph by Fazal Sheikh. Ajoh Achot and Achol Manyen, Sudanese refugee camp. Lokichoggio, Kenya, 1992.

Representation Who is represented as the Subject? Who is representable as the Subject? Who is chosen to represent the Subaltern?

How is Speaking Subject being Produced? white man Savior - brown man Injurer - brown woman Injured - Brown woman oppressed as structural necessity Saving brown woman is also a structural necessity

Woman as a Subject Woman remains an unthinkable figure that needs saving, protection, an assigned identity, a set of limits, rules. Where do the rules/norms/ideas of identity come from? How are the rules, norms, identities POLICED?

Subaltern Identity Accepts wretchedness as normality Millennial cognitive damage done to subaltern Valid institutional background can help subaltern speak

Agency Agency is the CAPABILITY or POWER to affect a desired change. Agency is NOT the same as Rights, Freedoms, Privileges, Advantages, Abilities. Agency is more specific to time, place, socio- economic context. Agency is increasingly perceived as a key goal of development.

New Subaltern Identity Subaltern becoming permeable because of desire to “do good” or “do something” Allow subaltern to speak and be heard A general will to create exploitation into the subaltern, too, is present