Subaltern Silence: A Postcolonial Genealogy

Kevin Olson's Subaltern Silence explores how contemporary societies silence the subaltern, using subtle techniques to render them invisible, marginalize them, and devalue their voices and actions. It traces the development of these techniques to European colonialism and postcoloniality, critiquing fundamental modern institutions and technologies as sites of exclusion. Despite its abstract, virtual, and symbolic nature, subordination remains at the heart of contemporary racial politics, dividing the Global South from the Global North and allocating privileges and burdens in often scarcely perceptible ways.

Format: Hardback
Length: 368 pages
Publication date: 14 May 2024
Publisher: Columbia University Press

Winner,2025 Charles Taylor Book Award,APSA Interpretive Methodologies and Methods Conference Group Subordination did not simply fade away in the aftermath of colonialism. Instead, this illuminating book shows a host of subtle new techniques that dominate vast categories of people by rendering them silent. Kevin Olson investigates how contemporary societies silence the subaltern: sometimes a literal silencing, often a metaphor for other ways of making people unheard. Such forms of silence make some people invisible, push others to the margins, and devalue the voices and actions of still others. Subaltern Silence traces the development of these techniques to the early years of European colonialism, focusing on Haiti's revolution and postcolonial trajectory. Exploring rich archives from Europe and the postcolonial world, Olson critiques fundamental modern institutions and technologies, such as the public sphere, the free press, and even progressively minded democratic revolution, as sites of exclusion. With the emergence of postcoloniality, he argues, subordination has become increasingly abstract, virtual, and symbolic. Nonetheless, it lies at the heart of contemporary racial politics, divides Global South from Global North, and allocates privileges and burdens in ways that are often scarcely perceptible. Engaging deeply with the thought of Gayatri Spivak and Michel Foucault, Subaltern Silence offers a new genealogy of colonialism and postcoloniality that is both historically informed and theoretically rich.

Dimension: 235 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780231214469