Subaltern

This entry discusses a few issues related to subaltern consumers. The original usage of the term subaltern in social sciences can be traced to the prison writings of Antonio Gramsci, who used the term as a disguise to refer to the working class. In a more recent interpretation, the term is not confined to an economic class and is used more broadly to connote subordinate groups. Some scholars have cautioned against a broader interpretation of the term and have argued that subaltern should be specifically employed to refer to the most oppressed groups in a society. This entry uses the term subaltern to refer to the economically marginalized groups such as urban proletariat and peasants, among others. In delineating a state of oppression, this entry ...