Editing Subaltern Studies (section)

==Definition==
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2019}}
The term "[[Subaltern (postcolonialism)|subaltern]]" in this context is an allusion to the work of Italian [[Marxist]] [[Antonio Gramsci]] (1891–1937). The term's semantic range has evolved from its first usage by [[Ranajit Guha]], following Gramsci, to refer solely to peasants who had not been integrated into the industrial [[capitalist]] system. It now refers to any person or group of inferior rank or station, whether because of [[Race (classification of human beings)|race]], [[social class|class]], [[gender]], [[sexual orientation]], [[ethnicity]], or [[religion]].

The SSG arose in the 1980s, influenced by the scholarship of [[Eric Stokes (historian)|Eric Stokes]] and Ranajit Guha, to attempt to formulate a new narrative of the history of India and South Asia. The group started at the [[University of Sussex]], then continued and spread, mainly through Guha's students.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/history/students/modules/hi323/lectures/ranajit_guha_and_subaltern_studies_sakar_2016.pdf | url-status=live | title=Ranajit Guha and Subaltern Studies | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180519120715/https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/history/students/modules/hi323/lectures/ranajit_guha_and_subaltern_studies_sakar_2016.pdf | archive-date=2018-05-19}}</ref> This narrative strategy was inspired by the writings of Gramsci was explicated in the writings of their mentor Ranajit Guha, most clearly in his "manifesto" in Subaltern Studies I and also in his classic monograph ''The Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency''. Although they are, in a sense, on the [[left-wing politics|left]], they are very critical of the traditional [[Marxist historiography|Marxist narrative of Indian history]], in which semi-[[feudal]] India<!--whoa. this claim of feudalism was already invented for the subcontinent by British ethnographers well before Marx.--> was colonized by the [[United Kingdom|British]], became politicized, and earned its [[independence]]. In particular, they are critical of the focus of this narrative on the political consciousness of elites, who in turn inspire the masses to resistance and rebellion against the British.

Instead, they focus on non-elites, subalterns, as agents of political and social change. They have had a particular interest in the discourses and rhetoric of emerging political and social movements, as against only highly visible actions like demonstrations and uprisings.