Journal Article — Is Fanon Relevant? Toward an Alternative Foreword to “The Damned of the Earth” — by Nigel C. Gibson

By investigating Fanon’s relevance for whom and for what this article examines a question that concerns Homi Bhabha in his new foreword to The Wretched of the Earth. It reviews the history of The Wretched in English and subjects Bhabha’s foreword to critical review. The reader is reminded that Fanon challenges radical intellectuals to ground their work in the struggles of the damned of the earth. Aware of the physical and often existential gulf between intellectuals and those damned, Fanon proposes a living relationship that requires ongoing theoretic labor to work out new humanist concepts. If this was difficult during the anti-colonial period of Fanon’s time, how much more difficult is it in our current period of retrogression and what would Fanon possibly say today at a moment when his revolutionary presuppositions are apparently off the table?