Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to engage some of the central themes of Gayatri Spivak's seminal essay, "Can the Subaltern Speak? (CSS)" In particular, her criticisms of post-structuralism's treatment of the "subject" as well as its privileging of "discourse" and micrological analyses of power vis-à-vis her discussion of Foucault and Deleuze. Design/methodology/approach: The paper also draws on a historical materialist approach to examine how Spivak's own work often reinscribes the discursive and politically pusillanimous tendencies of both post-structuralist and post-colonialist thought. Findings: This lends itself to the "complexification" of capitalism -- a bourgeois form of mystification of capital's essential workings and the underlying class structure of the globalized economy, inclusive of "postcolonial" societies. Originality/value: The authors conclude that CSS -- while an important question -- is ultimately a misdirected one that, in effect, mistakes discursive empowerment for social and economic enablement.