Subaltern Studies

The Subaltern Studies Group (SSG) or Subaltern Studies Collective is a group of

postcolonial and post-imperial societies.^[1] The term Subaltern Studies is sometimes also applied more broadly to others who share many of their views and they are often considered to be "exemplary of postcolonial studies" and as one of the most influential movements in the field.^[2] Their anti-essentialist approach^[3] is one of history from below

, focused more on what happens among the masses at the base levels of society than among the elite.

Definition

The term "

race, class, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or religion

.

The SSG arose in the 1980s, influenced by the scholarship of

feudal India was colonized by the British, became politicized, and earned its independence

. In particular, they are critical of the focus of this narrative on the political consciousness of elites, who in turn inspire the masses to resistance and rebellion against the British.

Instead, they focus on non-elites, subalterns, as agents of political and social change. They have had a particular interest in the discourses and rhetoric of emerging political and social movements, as against only highly visible actions like demonstrations and uprisings.

Criticism

One of the group's early contributors,

Gayatri Spivak, one of the most prominent names associated with the movement, has called herself a critic of "metropolitan post-colonialism".^[6]

American sociologist

class struggle and class formation in its analysis and accused it of excising class exploitation from the story of the oppression of the subaltern.^[7] His critique, explained in his book Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital, is focused on the works of two Indian scholars: Ranajit Guha and Dipesh Chakrabarty. According to Chibber, subaltern scholars tend to recreate the Orient

as a place where cultural differences negate analyses based on Western experience.

Bibliography of Subaltern Studies

Edition	Publication date	Editors	Title	Pages	Publisher
1	1982	Ranajit Guha	Writings on South Asian History and Society	231	Delhi: Oxford University Press
2	1983	Ranajit Guha	Writings on South Asian History and Society	358	Delhi: Oxford University Press
3	1984	Ranajit Guha	Writings on South Asian History and Society	327	Delhi: Oxford University Press
4	1985	Ranajit Guha	Writings on South Asian History and Society	383	Delhi: Oxford University Press
5	1987	Ranajit Guha	Writings on South Asian History and Society	296	Delhi: Oxford University Press
6	1989	Ranajit Guha	Writings on South Asian History and Society	335	Delhi: Oxford University Press
7	1993	Partha Chatterjee and Gyanendra Pandey	Writings on South Asian History and Society	272	Delhi: Oxford University Press
8	1994	David Arnold and David Hardiman	Writings on South Asian History and Society	240	Delhi: Oxford University Press
9	1996	Shahid Amin and Dipesh Chakrabarty	Writings on South Asian History and Society	248	Delhi: Oxford University Press
10	1999	Gautam Bhadra, Gyan Prakash, and Susie Tharu	Writings on South Asian History and Society	252	Delhi: Oxford University Press
11	2000	Partha Chatterjee and Pradeep Jeganathan	Community, Gender and Violence	347	New York: Columbia University Press
12	2005	Shail Mayaram, M. S. S. Pandian, and Ajay Skaria	Muslims, Dalits, and the Fabrications of History	322	New Delhi: Permanent Black and Ravi Dayal Publisher

Note: [8]

People associated with Subaltern Studies

Scholars associated with Subaltern Studies include:

References

^ "Subaltern Studies : The Encyclopedia of Postcolonial Studies : Blackwell Reference Online". Archived from the original on 2018-05-19. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
^ Connell, Raewyn (2005). Southern Theory.
^ Atabaki, Touraj (2003). Beyond Essentialism: Who Writes Whose Past in the Middle East and Central Asia? Inaugural lecture, 13 December 2002 (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
^ "Ranajit Guha and Subaltern Studies" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-05-19.
^ Sumit Sarkar, "The Decline of the. Subaltern in Subaltern Studies" in his Writing Sggial History. Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1997.
^ Gayatri_Chakravorty_Spivak, A Critique of Postcolonialism, Harvard University Press
^ "How does the subaltern speak?". jacobinmag. Archived from the original on 2016-02-08. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
^ "Subaltern Studies: Bibliography of articles and reviews and listing of table of contents of the series of books". asianstudies.github.io. Archived from the original on 2018-12-01. Retrieved 2019-10-23.

External links

Tim Spurgin's notes on Subaltern Studies Archived 2004-12-17 at the Wayback Machine and other topics in postcolonialism
A Bibliography of Subaltern Studies – the books, articles, and reviews

[1] "Subaltern Studies : The Encyclopedia of Postcolonial Studies : Blackwell Reference Online". Archived from the original on 2018-05-19. Retrieved 2018-05-18.

[2] Connell, Raewyn (2005). Southern Theory.

[3] Atabaki, Touraj (2003). Beyond Essentialism: Who Writes Whose Past in the Middle East and Central Asia? Inaugural lecture, 13 December 2002 (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2013.

[4] "Ranajit Guha and Subaltern Studies" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-05-19.

[5] Sumit Sarkar, "The Decline of the. Subaltern in Subaltern Studies" in his Writing Sggial History. Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1997.

[6] Gayatri_Chakravorty_Spivak, A Critique of Postcolonialism, Harvard University Press

[jacobinmag-7] "How does the subaltern speak?". jacobinmag. Archived from the original on 2016-02-08. Retrieved 2016-01-21.

[8] "Subaltern Studies: Bibliography of articles and reviews and listing of table of contents of the series of books". asianstudies.github.io. Archived from the original on 2018-12-01. Retrieved 2019-10-23.

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