Subversion
Subversion refers to an attempt to overthrow structures of
authority, including the
state. It is an
overturning or
uprooting. The word is present in all languages of
Latin origin, originally applying to such diverse events as the military defeat of a city.
As early as the
14th century, it was being used in the
English language with reference to laws, and in the
15th century came to be used with respect to the realm. The term has taken over from ‘
sedition' as the name for illicit
rebellion, though the connotations of the two words are rather different, sedition suggesting overt attacks on institutions, subversion something much more surreptitious, such as
eroding the basis of belief in the
status quo or setting people against each other.
Subversive activity is the lending of aid, comfort, and moral support to individuals, groups, or organizations that advocate the overthrow of incumbent governments by force and violence. All willful acts that are intended to be detrimental to the best interests of the government and that do not fall into the categories of
treason, sedition,
sabotage, or
espionage are placed in the category of subversive activity.
Recent writers, in the
post-modern and
post-structuralist traditions (including, particularly,
feminist writers) have prescribed a very broad form of subversion. It is not, directly, the governing realm which should be subverted in their view, but the predominant cultural forces, such as
patriarchy,
individualism, and
scientific rationalism. This broadening of the target of subversion owes much to the ideas of
Antonio Gramsci, who stressed that
communist revolution required the erosion of the particular form of ‘
cultural hegemony' in any
society.
Angered at the invasion of public space by advertisers and corporate interest, the turn of the millennium saw the rise of a movement to subvert corporate advertising, especially the ubiquitous corporate logos that inundate public space. "
Subvertising" involves subtly changing posters and advertisements to alter the intended meaning of corporate slogans and logos, usually to highlight the company's unethical practices. In this context, the authority figure subverted has ceased to be
the state and has become the all-powerful
corporation.
*
"Address before the National Association of Manufacturers" on the Soviet military and political threat by
Allen Dulles (1959) -
lower-middle portion of web page
