A review by savvylit
The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

challenging informative slow-paced

4.0

Despite being published about sixty years ago, The Wretched of the Earth is still an incredibly relevant work. Fanon's experience as a resident of Algeria during the French invasion allowed him to envision the myriad obstacles that could and would arise on a people's path to revolution and freedom. This portion of the book, which covers the first two-thirds, is very theory-heavy but enlightening nonetheless.

The last third of The Wretched of the Earth is composed of case studies from Fanon's work as a psychiatrist in Algeria. The case studies cover a range of folks from colonizer to colonized, from youth to elderly, and are a disturbingly fascinating look at how colonization traumatizes everyone. Fanon's case studies demonstrate the fact that to be colonized is to have trauma. This portion demonstrates the need for freedom from occupation in a manner that is both chilling and undeniable. If only we, as a global society, could heed Fanon's call.

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