Frantz Fanon’s revolutionary contribution: an attitude of decoloniality as critical pedagogy for social work.

Harms Smith, Linda

Abstract

There are many reasons why Frantz Fanon’s work is relevant today. Given ongoing Coloniality evident in global power asymmetries and neoliberal economic arrangements with grave levels of global (and within-state) inequality, Fanon’s characterisation of racist colonisation, oppressive power relationships and their intrapsychic impact, remain relevant. His work confronted the brutal asymmetrical power relationships of colonialism, critically interrogating these on levels of the psychological, social, material, cultural and political. As a post-colonial critique, his work brings together many philosophical, psychological and cultural theories with personal anecdotes and illustrations from practice relevant to the colonial context. The impact of oppressive racist power relationships exerts a similar impact today as during the colonial era, from the perspective both of the similarity of these dynamics and through intergenerational transmission of collective trauma. With respect to the nature of ongoing Coloniality, race-, class- and gender-based socioeconomic inequality, intersections of oppression, and institutional and structural racism, it is argued here that among Fanon’s many propositions, in particular, psychopolitics and sociogeny; the impact of colonisation; internalised oppression; negritude; disalienation and liberation; the importance of affect; and an attitude of Decoloniality, provide rich ground for liberatory and conscientising encounters in an environment of critical pedagogy, especially in social work. As Fanon says: 'But the war goes on; and we will have to bind up for years to come the many, sometimes ineffaceable, wounds that the colonialist onslaught has inflicted on our people'.

Citation

HARMS SMITH, L. 2020. Frantz Fanon’s revolutionary contribution: an attitude of decoloniality as critical pedagogy for social work. In Morley, C., Ablett, P., Noble, C. and Cowden, S. (eds.) The Routledge handbook of critical pedagogies for social work. London: Routledge [online], pages 399-411. Available from: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351002042-33

• Acceptance Date: Nov 29, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Jan 20, 2020
• Publication Date: Feb 17, 2020
• Deposit Date: Aug 14, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 21, 2021
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Pages: 399-411
• Book Title: The Routledge handbook of critical pedagogies for social work
• Chapter Number: Chapter 33
• ISBN: 9781138545748
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351002042-33
• Keywords: Global power; Racist colonisation; Colonialism; Decoloniality; Critical pedagogy; Social work
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/960549