Fanon and the Decolonization of Philosophy

Elizabeth A. Hoppe and Tracey Nicholls' impressive and welcome collection of essays is invaluable reading for those anxious to evaluate and counter the juggernaut of neo-liberalism that is transforming human possibility through the shaping of human and capital flows. In addition, their collection opens new ways for us to consider the myriad ways in which Fanon—psychiatrist, philosopher, revolutionary—affects our thinking about ethically oriented human transformation toward being actional in our neo-liberal moment. Their fascinating, brilliant, and valuable collection explores wide-ranging topics responsible to a refreshingly generous orientation. -- D. Moore, DePaul University
Fanon, unbowed and rebellious, fought tenaciously and victoriously against the supremacy exerted by the powerful over the weak....This volume brings together twelve contributors wanting to illuminate, forty-nine years after his death, how Fanon thought and acted, the ways his thinking is still pertinent to our knowledge of the places he affected, and the ways his thinking confronts the experiences, problems, and issues of the present. -- Mireille Fanon-Mendès France, from the foreword
If what we call 'philosophy' is to rise to the task of decolonizing itself, it must take stock first of its erasures, then of the critical tools still available to it—many of them coming from beyond the 'tradition.' This important volume answers both these imperatives. It offers us a return to Fanon's thought at a crucial time when globalization and neo-liberalism have reshaped older colonial patterns of international disempowerment and poverty. In so doing, it shows the pertinence—in fact, the indispensability—of Fanon in our time. Faithful to the collection's goal, the contributors address each dimension of Fanon's work, then apply theory to practice, analyzing contemporary political and economic dilemmas-in a specifically and creatively Fanonian vein. -- Bettina G. Bergo, Université de Montréal