Can the Subaltern Speak?: Reflections on the history of an idea

Eight scholars take stock of the effects and response to Spivak´s work ("Can the subaltern speak?") They begin by contextualizing the piece within the development of subaltern and postcolonial studies and the quest for human rights. Then, thtroug the lens of Spivak´s essay, they rethink historical problems of subalternity, voicing, and death. A final section situates "Can the Subaltern Speak?" wihthin contemporary issues, particularly new international divisions of labor and the politics of silence among indigenous women of Guatemala and Mexico. In an afterword, Spivak herself considers her essay´s past interpretations and future incarnations and the questions and histories that remain secreted in the original and revised versions of "Can the Subaltern Speak?"-both of which are reprinted in this book.