172. Closer Look: Fanon, Wretched of the Earth

Listen to Ellie and David take a closer look at Fanon's Wretched of the Earth in episode 172 of overthink!

May 05, 2026

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Does decolonization require violence? In episode 172 of Overthink, Ellie and David take a closer look at Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth, “the bible of decolonization.” They discuss Fanon’s bold stance on violence, his condemnation of rituals and dance, and some potential criticisms. They also question what the subjectivity of colonized people looks like given colonialism’s psycho-affective effects. What does violence do for the colonized? Who gets liberation movements off the ground? And what are the challenges that a newly independent nation might face once a colonial power has been overthrown? In the Substack bonus segment, your hosts talk about Fanon’s critique of Africanism and some of the clinical cases Fanon incorporates into this important work.

Works Discussed:

Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of The Earth

Concerning Violence (2014)

Highlight: Decolonization and Violence

Franz Fanon argues that decolonization is always violent and there’s no negotiating with a colonial power
Colonialism is violent in three ways:
- Economic: resource extraction
- Physical: military rule and respression
- Mental: the dehumanization of the colonized
For Fanon, the violence against the colonizer is restorative since it gives back the humanity that colonialism stole and gives the colonized more agency