1. Franz Fanon
1925-1961

2. Franz
Fanon
Born Martinique, psychiatrist, revolutionary,
liberation of Algeria from France
• Black skins white masks (1952); Wretched of
the earth (1961)
key text in post-colonial theory and criticism
brings psychology and politics together
• Racist objectification
race essential determining quality
• Colonising the mind
cultural values not one’s own; hostile; consistently “de-value me
and my culture”
• Cultural dissonance
dissonance between ego and culture, self and society
• Internalisation
external socio-historical reality assimilated into subjective reality
intrapsychic violence

3. Post-colonial Theory and Relevance to Social Work
THE SUBJECT AND STRUCTURE
PSYCHOLOGICAL AND POLITICAL
AGENCY AND STRUCTURE
As in general social theory, the central problem of social work, is ‘structure
and agency’
International definition of SW refers to the “inbetween” of the
subjective and the structural: …social work intervenes at the points
where people interact with their environments…
Post-colonial is misunderstood - not the chronological period after end of
colonial rule but form of analysis exposing violence of colonialism; gulf
between European moral philosophy and political practices (Mbembe, 2008)

4. POST AND ANTICOLONIAL THOUGHT
Critical perspective – relationship of domination/resistance that manifests when
one culture ‘owns’/controls another culture, even after end formalised
colonisation (Van Zyl, 1998)
Racialisation of colonised subject guided by “I alone possess value. But I can
only be of value, as myself, if others, as themselves, are without value”
(Mbembe, 2008)
Racism, denigration of indigenous ways, paternalism - Colonialism imposed
enormous social changes on traditional societies, no responsibility for social
costs of social disruption (Patel, 2005)
Praxis of anticolonialism arises from postcolonial thinking – identify, resist all
forms of domination and oppression (Dei, 2006, p.5)
Understand reproduction of dominance and subjugation of disempowered (Dei,
2006)

5. NEOLIBERALISM
“Re-named as ‘Neoliberalism’, the historic crime in the concentration of
privileges, wealth and impunities, democratizes misery and hopelessness.”
(Subcommandante Marcos, 1996).
Belief that free, unregulated market answer to global economic problems
Indefensible system of inequality and injustice, widely criticized principles
(Washington consensus) of fiscal policy discipline; cutbacks in state
expenditure; trade liberalization; privatization of state enterprises; security of
private property rights
Subtle continuation of historical colonialism and strong, hidden racist and
ethnocentric undercurrent, demonstrated by global resource consumption and
wealth distribution (Pollack and Chadha, 2004:4)
SW practices are at risk of supporting oppressive nature of this system if not
critical and radical in its resistance

6. Franz
Fanon
“Among the contribution of Fanon was the
obligation placed on Western scientists to consider
their role in the creation, perpetuation, and
consequences of racism and colonialisation.”
(Pierce, 1985, in Bulhan, 1985:vii)

7. Franz
Fanon
Fanon carefully documents the manner in which
colonialism distorts the colonial subject’s psyche. He
provocatively proclaims that the ‘black man is not a
man’, that colonisation dehumanises and objectifies
the colonised, rendering them incapable of being
human (Ahluwaliah and Zegeye, 2001)

8. Franz
Fanon
Definition of concept of racism: “the generalisation,
institutionalisation and assignment of values to real
or imaginary differences between people in order to
justify a state of privilege, aggression and/or
violence (not just cognitive or affective content of
prejudice, racism is expressed behaviourally,
institutionally and culturally).
Ideas or actions of a person, the goals or practices of
an institution, and the symbols, myths or structure
of a society are racist if
(a) imaginary or real differences of race are
accentuated;
(b) these differences are assumed absolute and
considered in terms of superior and inferior; and
(c) these are used to justify inequity, exclusion or
domination.” (Bulhan, 1985:13)

9. Franz
Fanon
The central principles of Fanon's psychological and
psychiatric thoughts are as follows:
1. In colonized countries, members of the indigenous
populations are made to feel inferior if they do not
conform to the cultural norms of the colonizers so that
they become dependent upon the colonizers for a sense
of self-esteem (Fanon 1986)
2. The object of therapy for the feelings of inferiority and
despair caused by colonial domination should not be to
promote adaptation to the status quo, but to put the
distressed person in a position to choose between
passivity and action in response to colonial domination
(Fanon 1986)

10. Franz
Fanon
3. The pathology of mental distress and the response to
therapy are related to political and cultural
environment (Fanon & Azoulay 1954)
4. The obsessions, contradictions and anxieties which
are experienced by a distressed person are the
internalizations of social conflict and imposed
limitations on liberty
5. When persons feel that the validity of their own
cultural and/or philosophical belief is being deemed
they characteristically become resentful and
withdrawn (Fanon 1989)

11. Franz
Fanon
6. Any form of resistance to colonial oppression invests
the characters of oppressed persons with positive and
creative qualities. Such activity frees them from feelings
of inferiority and despair and engenders self-respect
(Fanon 1990)
7. There are three phases in the discovery of one's own
individual identity assimulation (when the cultural
values promoted by others are adopted uncritically), the
reaction against these imposed cultural values, and
commitment towards radical change (Fanon 1990)
8. The doctor-patient relationship is a microcosm of power
relationships in wider society, and within oppressive
societies mental institutions are places of coercion and
not of healing (Fanon 1967, cited in Bulhan 1985)

12. Franz
Fanon
Fanon's psychology is concerned with anti-racism and
anti-colonialism - central themes can be re-worked as
more general theory of relationship between social,
economic and/or political oppression and mental health
(Hopton, 1995)
Fanon’s psychology locates origins of mental distress in
social injustice and oppression
Therapy should be orientated to helping distressed
persons identify oppressive forces operating in their
lives and develop strategies for direct action against
whoever or whatever causing their distress

13. Franz
Fanon
Dynamics of oppression extremely complex and involve
interaction of historical, structural, ideological
and interpersonal factors
Unlike traditional approaches orientated towards
individual action by clients, Fanonist model of mental
health nursing is orientated to challenging socio-
political status quo Involves practical political activity
by nurses in society where social relations influenced
by market forces of capitalism, institutionalized racism,
sexism, heterosexism
Part of role of mental health nurses to act as role models
to clients through active participation - individually and
collectively — in organizations challenging oppression

14. “Nothing in my view is more reprehensible than those habits of
mind in the intellectual that induce avoidance, that
characteristic turning away from a difficult of principled position
which you know to be the right one, but which you decide not
to take.” (Said, 1994, p.74)