Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak Wins 2025 Holberg Prize; "Makes Us Proud," Says Mamata Banerjee (Image: columbia.edu)
Renowned scholar and literary theorist Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak has been awarded the prestigious 2025 Holberg Prize, one of the world’s most significant academic honours in the humanities and social sciences. The prize, valued at approximately $540,000, is conferred annually by the Norwegian Government and administered by the University of Bergen.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee extended her congratulations to Spivak, celebrating her achievement as a matter of pride for India. “I congratulate our Professor Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak on attaining yet another top international recognition. She makes us proud by achieving this highest honour,” she said. Banerjee also lauded Spivak’s long-standing engagement with voluntary services in West Bengal’s rural communities and her efforts to translate Bengali literary classics into English.
A Trailblazing Scholar in Humanities
Spivak, a University Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University, has significantly influenced literary criticism, postcolonial studies, and feminist theory. The Holberg Committee recognised her for her interdisciplinary contributions in comparative literature, translation, and political philosophy. Since the 1970s, her research has shaped contemporary thought, and her work has been translated into over 20 languages. She has also taught in more than 50 countries.
A prominent advocate for the humanities, Spivak has argued for its essential role in fostering critical thinking and ethical learning. “No amount of merely being able to use knowledge as intellectual property can lead to a democratic and just society if we have not gone into training in the practice of learning,” she stated.
Heike Krieger, Chair of the Holberg Committee, praised Spivak’s approach to deconstructing Western thought, which has inspired critical inquiries across global academia. “Taking the core of Western thought as an object of critical analysis, Spivak has enabled and supported otherwise inconceivable lines of interrogation, both at the centres and margins of global modernity,” she remarked.
A Voice for the Subaltern
Spivak’s work has often focused on subaltern studies, highlighting the struggles of marginalised groups, particularly subaltern women. Her seminal essay Can the Subaltern Speak? is a foundational text in postcolonial studies, challenging dominant narratives that exclude these voices from historical and cultural discourse. The essay critically examines how power structures silence resistance, using the practice of widow-burning in colonial India as an example.
Beyond academia, Spivak has been an active educator in rural India, teaching in self-subsidised schools among marginalised communities for over four decades. Her activism extends to Africa, where she has worked on issues related to poverty and development.
Pioneering Deconstruction in English
Another milestone in Spivak’s career is her translation and introduction of Jacques Derrida’s Of Grammatology, which played a key role in introducing deconstruction to the English-speaking world. This method of analysis challenges existing assumptions and reveals hidden frameworks in texts and ideas. Spivak’s critical engagement with deconstruction has expanded its application beyond traditional literary studies, making it a crucial tool for understanding social and political structures.
Her latest work, Spivak Moving, is a compilation of essays and lectures that reflect her lifelong intellectual journey. She is currently working on a book about W. E. B. Du Bois, titled Globalizing Enslavement: My Brother Burghardt.
Recognised Across the Globe
A member of the Columbia University faculty since 1991, Spivak has held the title of University Professor in the Humanities since 2007. She is a founding member of the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society at Columbia and holds prestigious memberships in the British Academy, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. Her numerous accolades include the Kyoto Prize in Art and Philosophy, the Padma Bhushan, and the Modern Language Association Lifetime Scholarly Achievement Award. She has also received 15 honorary doctorates worldwide.
Amy Hungerford, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Columbia, celebrated Spivak’s recognition. “Her research and academic achievements will continue to shape these fields and inspire new students and scholars alike for generations to come,” she said.
Bruno Bosteels, Columbia’s Dean of Humanities, described Spivak as an unparalleled scholar, teacher, and activist. “The Holberg Prize is testimony to her place as a one-of-a-kind intellectual. I am honoured to have her as a friend,” he remarked.
The 2025 Holberg Prize will be formally conferred upon Spivak in a ceremony at the University of Bergen on 5 June.
