"On Violence" Part1

1. Apply “On Practice” and “On Contradiction” to this chapter. In what ways is the relationship between colonizer and colonized a dialectic one? In what ways is it not?

2. Why does Fanon advise us to “slightly stretch” typical Marxist analysis in regards to colonization? Do you see this as a step away from Marxism or an advancement of it?

3. Which Western, liberal tendencies are exposed as meaningless through the process of decolonization? What becomes the role of the colonized intellectual if he does not cast liberalism aside during the national struggle? How does this group parallel the petit-bourgeois of the West?

4. What does Fanon mean when he describes the colonial world as made up of compartments? What affect does the rigidity of this world have on the psyche of the colonized?

5. How is the concept of “non-violence” a creation of the colonialist bourgeoise? How do we see this dynamic reflected in our time?

6. How has finance capital changed the dynamics of colonialism? What affect do these changes have on the oppressors’ use of violence?

7. Elaborate on Fanon’s conceptualization of the colonial politicians as “those slaves set free.” How do we encounter this same dynamic in the world today?

8. On page 70, Fanon says “the uprising of the new nation and the breaking down of colonial structures are the result of one of two causes: either of a violent struggle of the people in their own right, or of action on the part of surrounding colonized peoples which acts a brake on the colonial regime in question.” What is meant by this? Can we recontextualize our understanding of historical events along these lines? Can we see this principle play out in our own struggles and strategies?"