Volume VI Special Issue V June 2026

Name of Author : Srijana Sharma

Title of the paper : Voices from the Margins: Re reading Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and De Colonial Feminism in the Global South

Abstract: This study examines the state centric framing of the South China Sea dispute through a subaltern perspective, drawing on the work of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. While existing scholarship predominantly emphasises sovereignty, geopolitics, and great power rivalry, it systematically marginalises the lived experiences and voices of coastal communities most directly affected by the conflict. Drawing on qualitative discourse analysis of policy documents, legal frameworks, and secondary case material, the study examines how small scale fishers, coastal populations, and women within maritime economies are rendered invisible within dominant narratives. The article argues that these groups occupy a subaltern position, wherein their capacity to speak is structurally constrained by epistemic and institutional hierarchies that privilege state and elite knowledge systems. By revisiting key concepts such as epistemic violence and representation, the paper demonstrates that even legal mechanisms, including the South China Sea Arbitration Philippines v. China, remain largely silent on questions of livelihood, environmental justice, and community agency. In doing so, it contributes to bridging critical theory and maritime politics, offering a reorientation of the South China Sea discourse toward epistemic justice and participatory governance.

Keywords : Subaltern, Feminism, Marginalised Voices, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Arbitration awards.

DOI :

Page Number : 140-150