Strategic essentialism, a major concept in postcolonial theory, was introduced in the 1980s by the woman Indian literary critic and theorist Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak.
These identity attributes commonly include: While strong differences may exist between members of these groups, and amongst themselves, they engage in continuous debates.
Proponents of Strategic essentialism argue it is sometimes advantageous for them to temporarily "essentialize" themselves, despite it being based on erroneous logic,[2] and to bring forward their group identity in a simplified way to achieve certain goals, such as equal rights or antiglobalization.
[3] Spivak's understanding of the term was first introduced in the context of cultural negotiations, never as an anthropological category.
[4] In her 2008 book Other Asias,[5] Spivak disavowed the term, indicating her dissatisfaction with how the term has been deployed in nationalist enterprises to promote (non-strategic) essentialism.