Franz Fanon1925-1961

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 mindcultural values not one’s own; hostile; consistently “de-value me and my culture”

• Cultural dissonancedissonance between ego and culture, self and society

• Internalisationexternal socio-historical reality assimilated into subjective realityintrapsychic violence

Post-colonial Theory and Relevance to Social Work

THE SUBJECT AND STRUCTUREPSYCHOLOGICAL AND POLITICALAGENCY 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)

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)

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

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)

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)

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)

Franz Fanon

The central principles of Fanon's psychological and psychiatric thoughts are as follows:

1. In colonized countries, members of the indigenouspopulations 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 anddespair 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)

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 owncultural and/or philosophical belief is being deemed they characteristically become resentful and withdrawn (Fanon 1989)

Franz Fanon

6. Any form of resistance to colonial oppression investsthe characters of oppressed persons with positive andcreative qualities. Such activity frees them from feelingsof inferiority and despair and engenders self-respect(Fanon 1990)

7. There are three phases in the discovery of one's ownindividual identity assimulation (when the culturalvalues promoted by others are adopted uncritically), thereaction against these imposed cultural values, andcommitment towards radical change (Fanon 1990)

8. The doctor-patient relationship is a microcosm of powerrelationships in wider society, and within oppressivesocieties mental institutions are places of coercion andnot of healing (Fanon 1967, cited in Bulhan 1985)

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 distressedpersons identify oppressive forces operating in theirlives and develop strategies for direct action againstwhoever or whatever causing their distress

Franz Fanon

Dynamics of oppression extremely complex and involve interaction of historical, structural, ideologicaland 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

“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)