Popularized by postcolonial scholar Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, subaltern refers to individuals or groups marginalized through colonialism and cultural imperialism. Spivak’s analysis originates in the varied colonial contexts across Southeast Asia, where subaltern social classes—such as Indian citizens amid British rule—are denied self-determination and political representation. Beyond governance, subalternity has social and cultural effects, where traditional knowledge systems or lifeways are suppressed. Subaltern peoples are characterized as a distinct group with unique oppressions and desires, as opposed to generalized class groupings such as the “working class” (see Asimakis; Gordo; see also hegemony; epistemology; margin).