Blackwell Reference Online

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The concept of strategic essentialism is a “strategic use of positivist essentialism in a scrupulously visible political interest” ( Fuss 1994 : 99). It utilizes the idea of essence with a recognition of and critique of the essentialist nature of the essence itself. It is a means of using group identity as a basis of struggle while also debating issues related to group identity within the group. Strategic essentialism emerged out of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's critique of the Marxist, historical collective called the Subaltern Studies Group. The collective's main project was to operate as a counter-movement, working to expose elitist representations of South Asian culture, particularly within Indian history. Subaltern studies performed the rewriting of the history of colonial India from the position of subordinated social groups or the subaltern . The subaltern is often used as a word for the oppressed or “Other” in society. Spivak's usage is based on Antonio Gramsci's definition, which consists of subordinated or non-elite social groups. These groups occupy a space of difference with no or extremely limited access to the culture of the elite. The goal of the Subaltern Studies Group was simply to provide access or space for the subaltern to speak. The subaltern is a product of the network of elites, of differing understandings of what the subaltern is , as defined by the elites. ... log in or subscribe to read full text