When the Subaltern Speaks: Critical Race Theory and the Power of Voice
In her seminal 1988 essay Can the Subaltern Speak?, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak posed a question that still shapes debates about power, representation, and justice today, which is, what does it mean for those historically pushed to the margins - the subaltern - to be heard? This question is crucial in understanding racial equity work, where the challenge is not just whether marginalised groups speak, but whether the systems around them are willing to hear, understand, and act on what they say.
Understanding the Subaltern
The term “subaltern” refers to those excluded from dominant power structures. Within the lens of Critical Race Theory (CRT), this might mean racially minoritised staff in predominantly white workplaces, patients navigating healthcare systems designed without them in mind, or communities whose experiences of systemic racism are overlooked by policy-makers.
Spivak’s warning is that even when the subaltern speaks, their words may be ignored, co-opted, or reinterpreted in ways that reinforce the very structures they are challenging. The task, then, is not simply to “give voice,” but to transform the conditions under which that voice can be heard and taken seriously.
CRT and Counter-Storytelling
Critical Race Theory answers this challenge through the practice of counter-storytelling -sharing the lived realities of those experiencing racism. Counter-stories push back against dominant narratives that normalise inequity and allow institutions to avoid accountability. They make visible the hidden patterns of discrimination and force a reckoning with “business as usual.”
In practice, counter-storytelling can look like collecting and amplifying testimonies, conducting listening sessions (ethically) that prioritise psychological safety, or bringing lived experience into policy and strategy conversations. It is a way of dignifying experience while challenging the systems that produce harm.
From Voice to Structural Change
A critical risk is tokenism, inviting people to speak without resourcing the systemic change their stories call for. This can retraumatise participants and ultimately maintain the status quo.
CRT reminds us that listening is not enough. Speech must lead to action, and action must address the root causes of inequity such as policy, culture, and power dynamics. This means embedding equity into governance, decision-making, and accountability processes, so that the insights of the subaltern become catalysts for transformation rather than symbolic gestures.
Practicing Epistemic Justice
Central to this work is epistemic justice—the right to be recognised as a knower and to have one’s knowledge taken seriously. For organisations and systems, this requires shifting whose expertise counts, co-designing solutions with those most affected, and ensuring that power is shared, not simply consulted.
When the subaltern speaks through a CRT lens, we are being invited to hear not just an individual testimony but a systemic critique. The challenge for those in power is whether they are willing to be changed by what they hear.
The Real Questions
The question is no longer whether the subaltern can speak—they are already speaking. The real questions are:
Who is listening?
What changes are made in response?
How are structures being transformed so that silence is no longer the default?
Answering these questions with integrity is what moves us from symbolic gestures of inclusion to meaningful, lasting equity.