"The Global South": Yet Another Attempt to Engage the Other

This paper deals with the concept of the Global South as another theory of alterity in the tradition of multiculturalism. It argues that the underlying problem with alterity paradigms (among which we must place the global South) is that they require a decolonization of the Other in the United States to occur in order to succeed. Using as a point of departure a multicultural initiative instituted at a large Southern state-run institution, the essay examines the weakness and failures of the alterity industry within academe. The essay then questions whether the notion of the global South can escape the limitations imposed on other recent pedagogies and theories of alterity and diversity initiatives and offer an alternative paradigm.