After last month’s discussion on hegemonies, don’t you want to overturn the dominant paradigms. So, here’s Dr. Suchitra Dalvie’s column on subversion!

Subvert : An attempt to transform the established social order and its structures of power, authority, and hierarchy. The word has its roots in the Latin subvertere: overthrow. It defines a process by which the values ??and principles of a system in place, are contradicted or reversed.

Subversion is used as a tool to achieve political goals. However we should distinguish between subversive ideology and insurgency or guerilla warfare, which are aggressive and militarized subversions.

There are many definitions in Wikipedia  ranging from :

“Actions designed to undermine the military, economic, psychological, or political strength or morale of a governing authority.”

“A planned series of activities designed to accomplish political objectives by influencing, dominating, or displacing individuals or groups who are so placed as to affect the decisions and actions of another government.”

“A destructive, aggressive activity aimed to destroy the country, nation, or geographical area of your enemy… [by demoralizing the cultural values and changing the population’s perception of reality].

The key to understanding what is considered to be subversive requires understanding the intent of those taking action. This makes defining and identifying subversion a difficult process. As Laurence Beilenson points out, “to criticize a government in an effort to reform it or to change its policies is not subversion, even though such criticism may contribute to overthrow. But criticism intended to help a projected overthrow becomes subversive without regard to whether it is right or wrong.”

Recent writers, in the post-modern traditions, particularly feminist writers, have prescribed a very broad form of subversion. It is not, directly, the parliamentary government which should be subverted in their view, but the dominant cultural hegemonic forces, such as patriarchy, individualism, and capitalism.

Using culture to bring about change to a political system is another tool of subversion.  However, this takes a longer time to implement and for its effects to be apparent. Traditionally students , especially those of liberal arts , have been associated with the seeding of such subversive cultural concepts and attempts to overthrow the dominant paradigm.

The targets of cultural subversive activities have usually been film, literature, popular music, educational institutions, mass media, religious organizations, charitable organizations and other forms of art.

In situations where the governments ( or increasingly more relevant being the global systems such as capitalism ) are not upholding the values of democracy, liberty, equality, human and civil rights , then the use of literature, film, and music can be used as a reminder of these values as well as a forum to protest. Once the stigma has been removed by the creation of alternate narratives, then society may be more receptive to further messages of integration or transformation.

As John Stuart Mills puts so succintly: “ All political revolutions, not affected by foreign conquest, originate in moral revolutions. The subversion of established institutions is merely one consequence of the previous subversion of established opinions.”