The Rationality of Revolt and Fanon’s Relevance, 50 Years Later

What does it mean to speak of Fanon’s relevance fifty years after his death? I suggest that one element to consider might be an epistemological challenge signaled by social movements of the wretched of the earth. Fanon’s wretched of the earth is not a story of wretchedness and suffering but of self-fashioning movements which through action become aware of themselves as subjects as they become aware of the betrayals of the leaders who speak in their name. The challenge to university-trained intellectuals who want to aid these popular movements is to hear these voices and support their articulation. Fanonian practices call for a shift in epistemology. Critical of research paradigms developed by the World Bank or other international funding agencies, and focused instead on the articulation of needs from the bottom up, dialogues about education (in and outside the academy) for liberation can be rekindled.