The Subaltern

Dr Philip Holden, University Scholars Programme, National University of Singapore

This is again a term from Gramsci. In The Modern Prince and The Prison Notebooks Gramsci describes the subaltern classes as those subordinated by hegemony excluded from any meaningful role in a regime of power. Gramsci himself has workers in mind, but the term has also been used to describe other groups who are excluded and do not have a position from which to speak--for example peasants women. Gramsci further notes that "the subaltern classes, by definition, are not unified and cannot unite until they are able to become a 'State'".

Sources

• Gramsci, Antonio. Prison Notebooks. Tr. Joseph A. Buttigieg and Antonio Callari. New York: Columbia UP, 1992.
• Gramsci, Antonio. The Modern Prince, and Other Writings. Tr. Louis Marks. New York: International Publishers, 1967.

Last Modified: 19 April, 2002