Understanding Subversion

ellenlouise
Dec 29, 2020
2 min read

To get a broad understanding of subversion I took to Wikipedia. I am aware it is not the most reputable source in the world, however, I knew it could give me a broad amount of knowledge. My annotations are in the images below.

Subversion is believed to have come from the Latin 'subvertere' meaning 'to overthrow'. This backs up the previous definitions from Merriam Webster discussing that subversion means literally 'to overthrow something'. It is discussed that it could be said that subversion is when the principles of a system (much like the overarching system discussed previously) are contradicted, reversed or inverted. The majority of what is discussed on the Wikipedia page is referring to political subversion however, it does go into more detail about what different types of political subversion could be.

From my understanding, a subversive act, in this case, could be the burning of your countries flag as this could be classed as an attack on public moral and stating that your oppose your country in some way. You could burn another countries flag to show opposition however I don't think this can be classed as subversion as it is not from within.

A subversive can also be called a traitor. This is why I considered that maybe someone like Guy Fawkes could be considered a subversive. All though I am still unsure. It is discussed that terrorism is not an example of subversion but I wonder if this is when the terrorists are from outside of your country. Guy Fawkes, however, was English and isn't known as a terrorist as such. He was charged with treason for the gunpowder plot as committed a crime against his own country. So maybe there is an argument to suggest he was a subversive.

Subversion itself has not one single definition. Charles Townsend, who was the British Chancellor of the Exchequer between 2 August 1766 – 4 September 1767, described subversion to be 'so elastic it is virtually devoid of meaning'. There is a lot within the article with regards to what isn't subversion that it is difficult for me to pinpoint what is. More on my notes and thought process are in the images below.