This thesis presents a rhetorical analysis of the Guerra del Gas movement in Bolivia from 2003 to 2005. It views the social movement and its major uprisings as emerging from a subaltern counterpublic that grounded its resistance in uniquely indigenous rhetoric. Chapter one provides a theoretical framework for understanding indigenous rhetoric as embodying a discourse of subaltern sensibilities and situating subaltern counterpublic theory within the historic-cultural situation of Bolivia to understand contemporary struggles over natural resources and against neoliberal politics within the country. The indigenous rhetoric of the Guerra del Gas movement provided a direct refutation of natural gas privatization and neoliberal hegemony. The second chapter is a case study that explores the indigenous rhetoric of the October 2003 and May-June 2005 uprisings that characterized the subaltern counterpublic sphere of the Guerra del Gas movement. In chapter three the theoretical frame of subaltern rhetoric is established to analyze Evo Morales’ inaugural address as an embodiment of a discourse of subaltern sensibilities. The conclusion chapter offers some directions for further research and considers how understanding indigenous rhetoric has implications for social struggle and organized resistance in a world of increasing globalization and neoliberal hegemonic policymaking. / text

In this essay, the Harry Potter series will be analyzed in three different sections. I will use African American criticism and Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the discussion of ‘race’ and segregation that occurs between three different groups. This section will explain along what lines the world of Harry Potter is segregated and to what extent. Further, it will contain a case-study of house-elves through the lens of postcolonial criticism, that shows how certain groups are relegated to the status of “subaltern”, what form their oppression take and how they respond to it. I have chosen the elves, who are at the very bottom of the social ladder, because the extent of their oppression has been cut out from movie adaptions, and Rowling herself has liquidated the house-elf plot from the last novels. They provide the clearest example of differentiation between the groups of magical creatures, even though as a group they do not play an important part the series. The main concepts that will be used in this section are the issues of subaltern, mimicry and anticolonialist resistance. Finally, I will look at the novels through a multicultural perspective to see how Rowling has portrayed contemporary multicultural England and how it connects to the racial divisions in the magical world.

The popular discourse has it that sports take a big part in the everyday life of South Africa. Given its segregated past, we ask the question on how the media discourse were on race, politics and gender during the formative period of circa 1990-1995. Utilizing discourse analysis on newspaper clippings from 1990 to 1995 and 2004 and interviews with players, coaches, administrators and sports activists, we have found that there was indeed a specific white discourse that subjugated the black perspective into the subaltern and formed partnership with the hegemonic traditions of the white apartheid regime.

This project seeks to critically examine the hegemony and imperialism of liberal-democratic modernity, and the possibilities for forms of politics that are rooted in subaltern difference. I argue that one of the great challenges in resisting the hegemony of liberal-democracy is that it offers a broad family of both conservative and progressive/critical languages that can be adopted and used by elite and subordinate groups alike. The availability of critical or dissenting languages that are internal to liberal-democracy often entices subordinate groups to make use of them, but this only furthers the subalternization of other distinct normative or practical traditions. I aim to articulate an alternative form of politics that remains rooted in subaltern difference, and is not simply based on an internal or immanent critique of liberal-democracy. This is a type of ethico-politics that seeks to actualize subaltern goods and traditions in its very practice or way of life, and to build its forms of resistance and transformation upon this practice. This dissertation (a) explores some of the key features of this kind of subaltern ethico-politics; (b) examines the ways in which contemporary modes of postcolonial and political thought, especially those with critical or emancipatory intent, often serve to contain and/or efface this form of subaltern praxis; and (c) addresses some of the broader questions and challenges this praxis poses for resistance to imperialism and coalition-building among diverse social movements today.

This project seeks to critically examine the hegemony and imperialism of liberal-democratic modernity, and the possibilities for forms of politics that are rooted in subaltern difference. I argue that one of the great challenges in resisting the hegemony of liberal-democracy is that it offers a broad family of both conservative and progressive/critical languages that can be adopted and used by elite and subordinate groups alike. The availability of critical or dissenting languages that are internal to liberal-democracy often entices subordinate groups to make use of them, but this only furthers the subalternization of other distinct normative or practical traditions. I aim to articulate an alternative form of politics that remains rooted in subaltern difference, and is not simply based on an internal or immanent critique of liberal-democracy. This is a type of ethico-politics that seeks to actualize subaltern goods and traditions in its very practice or way of life, and to build its forms of resistance and transformation upon this practice. This dissertation (a) explores some of the key features of this kind of subaltern ethico-politics; (b) examines the ways in which contemporary modes of postcolonial and political thought, especially those with critical or emancipatory intent, often serve to contain and/or efface this form of subaltern praxis; and (c) addresses some of the broader questions and challenges this praxis poses for resistance to imperialism and coalition-building among diverse social movements today.

The aim of this thesis is to study Iranian women's struggle against the mandatory veil, based on Nancy Fraser's (1990) theory on subaltern counterpublics and Mia Lövheim's (2012) use of Stig Hjarvard’s theory on mediatization of religion. Specifically, how the Iranian-exile Masih Alinejad's Twitter can be seen as an alternative sphere in which she creates a mediatized subaltern counterpublic for marginalized women. The research questions are as follows:(1) How is Iran and the compulsory hijab portrayed in the selected material? (2) Can this portrayal be seen as a mediatized subaltern counterpublic? The material consists of 100 tweets from the campaign #WhiteWednesdays. By using a qualitative method with an abductive approach, I found four themes in the material. Research question (1) showed that Iran is portrayed as a stratified society where men are superior to women and that the public sphere constitutes problems regarding women's rights. The mandatory veil is presented as the most visible symbol of gender apartheid and religious dictatorship. Research question (2)showed that, based on subaltern counterpublics and mediatization, societies (especially with religious authority) exclude women from speaking in authorized discourse, which contributes to a search for alternative spheres. The study’s chosen theories proved to be a good fit for capturing, describing and explaining how Alinejad creates a mediatized subaltern counterpublic - via new digital media - for marginalized women whom have been excluded from the authorized and official capacity of the country. The results further showed how Alinejad participated in the mediated public sphere as an independent agent who engaged in religious issues from a position of authority. She continues to use the #WhiteWednesdays campaign as a space to perform activism against the regime's veil policy.

The subaltern is a recurrent literary figure in Mexican narrative. The objective of this thesis is to investigate three ethnic groups – indeed, subalterns – in Mexico which include: Afro-Mexicans, indigenous groups, and Filipino colonial subjects from the perspectives of the Mexican Revolution, post-revolutionary Mexico, and the conquest of the Philippines in the sixteenth century. The principal characters play crucial roles in events shaping the history and culture of Mexico and thus demonstrate their importance to the country's development while also revealing the reality of subalterns. The literary research shows that trying circumstances or a lack of self-identity were the main causes for a character to be or become a subaltern in addition to their inherent ethnic disadvantages. However, the characters who overcame their subaltern state often changed personality traits or adapted to their surroundings in order to be assimilated into the majority culture.

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In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Americanah the young female protagonist is unexpectedly thrown into a life of marginalisation when she migrates from Nigeria to the American East coast. Having grown up in Nigeria her skin colour has neither been an issue nor of consideration to her, but it soon becomes apparent that elsewhere her complexion evokes expectations and functions as a breeding ground for prejudice. The aim of this essay is to discuss the remnants and effects of colonialism in past and present times including how postcolonialism is represented in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Americanah. Additional focus will be placed both on the subaltern’s right to represent and resistance to conform. The intention is to show that through discrimination of minorities, marginalised people are compelled to use mimicry to attain equal status, and thus are forced to compromise their identity. Considering the novel’s protagonist later return to Nigeria, a secondary focus will be placed on the possibility and probability of restoration of one’s identity.

Cette recherche interroge les pratiques discursives de domination et d’altérisation dans la production urbaine. Notre analyse prend le départ du questionnement de la globalisation dans la planification urbaine et de son articulation au niveau micro-local. Notre hypothèse est que les groupes dominants utilisent les pratiques populaires comme argument de délégitimation des populations pauvres dans les « visions » de la ville globalisée. Cette stigmatisation se nourrit des stéréotypes de la ville en retard et de l’immobilisme de ces « groupes subalternes », mais également des conflits entre les habitants du centre pour l’appropriation de l’espace au quotidien. La domination exercée résulte alors d’un enchevêtrement complexe entre des conditions sociales réelles et des discours stéréotypés. Cette recherche suit une démarche interdisciplinaire, qui croise les approches à la ville propres à l’architecture avec le regard sociologique. Le choix des terrains d’étude se porte sur deux métropoles, Le Caire (Égypte) et Naples (Italie). Malgré de profondes différences de contexte, les questions s’imbriquent : l’attractivité touristique qui passe par le changement de population, la patrimonialisation de l’architecture des centres, et un urbanisme hanté par le mythe d’une grandeur déchue. À travers l’étude des pratiques micro-locales d’occupation du logement et de l’espace urbain, ainsi que du processus de construction et de manipulation d’une condition de « subalternité métropolitaine », il apparaît que si d’un côté les aménageurs revendiquent le monopole de la prise de décision, de l’autre les habitants mettent en place une production de l’espace urbain « par le bas ». / This research examines the discursive practices of domination and othering in urban production. Our analysis opens with the questioning of globalization in urban planning and its relationship with the micro-local level. Our hypothesis is that dominant groups use popular practices as an argument of delegitimization of the poor in the "visions" of the globalized city. This stigma is fuelled by the stereotypes of the undeveloped city and the immobilism of these "subaltern groups", but also by the conflicts between the inhabitants of the centre for the appropriation of space in everyday life. Thus, the domination results as a complex tangle between real social conditions and stereotypical discourses. This research follows an interdisciplinary approach, which crosses the architecture-specific analysis of the city with a sociological perspective. We chose as our case studies two cities, Cairo (Egypt) and Naples (Italy). Despite the profound differences in context, many issues overlap: the touristic appeal depending on the exclusion of a part of the population, the politics of heritage of the city centres, and an urban planning haunted by the myth of fallen greatness. Through the study of micro-local practices of domestic and urban space, and the process of construction and manipulation of a condition of "metropolitan subalternity", it appears that if, on the one hand, developers claim the monopoly of decision making, on the other, inhabitants develop a production of urban space "from below".