CultureAugust 31, 2026
subaltern
SUB-awl-turn
Definition
A person or group of people who are marginalized, disenfranchised, or lack access to political and cultural power, often existing outside of the dominant societal structures.
Etymology
Derived from the Latin 'subalternus' (sub- meaning 'under' and alternus meaning 'every other'), the term originally described a subordinate military officer before being adopted by social theorists to denote socially or politically oppressed groups.
In the news
In this article, the author describes race as part of the 'verbiage of a subaltern' and later references Gayatri Spivak's query about whether such marginalized voices can truly be heard within dominant systems.
Applying A Decolonial Apologetic To Race, Culture, Tolerance
Read the full article ↗Patheos