Theory from the Trenches: Decolonization and the Storm of Subaltern Marxism

Raza explores a renewed vision of decolonization—one distinct from the efforts led by bureaucrats, professors or social media activists. While much of contemporary discourse has focused on dismantling colonial residues in cultural and epistemological landscapes—through actions such as toppling statues and revising disciplinary canons—his work presents an alternative approach, one driven by subaltern actors engaged in struggles that were both global and local in scope.

Raza examines how landless peasants in Pakistan, deeply embedded in a worldwide communist movement that spanned from Oakland to Saigon, from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, redefined revolutionary theory in their fight against imperialist political economies. In the 1970s, these peasants joined a Mao-inspired party, not only seizing colonially-established estates but also coming to recognize that “theory” was an essential, internally understood tool for global revolution.

He conceptualizes these subaltern engagements with theory as trench theory, a form of subterranean theorizing shaped by the demands of political struggle. Using the metaphor of the trench, he highlights how these marginalized actors developed intellectual frameworks from within the very trenches of resistance. Ultimately, his work demonstrates how subaltern actors drew upon ideas from diverse intellectual traditions, crossing borders and oceans, to create trench concepts—theoretical tools aimed at achieving not just worldly, but even other-worldly, liberation.

This talk is cosponsored by the Anthropology Department and the School of Education.

Shozab Raza is an assistant professor of social justice education and anthropology at the University of Toronto, and a 2024-25 Fung Global Fellow at Princeton University. As a historical anthropologist, his research and teaching focuses on revolutionary political imaginaries and political economy as these unfold across Asia, the Indian Ocean and beyond. He is finalizing his book manuscript, titled “Theory from the Trenches: Decolonization and the Storm of Subaltern Marxism.” Shozab’s research has been published in several journals, including Cultural Anthropology and Comparative Studies in Society and History, while his public writing has appeared in venues like The Guardian and Boston Review. He is also a founding editor of Jamhoor.