‘Disordering’ the world: Frantz Fanon’s contribution to social work’s understanding of decolonisation

Abstract

Noting current postcolonial critiques and endeavours to ‘decolonise the university’ and its various disciplines, the article points to the importance of the work of Frantz Fanon and especially his Studies in a dying colonialism and The wretched of the earth. The focus is on Fanon’s interrogation of the use of the veil in Algeria and how he perceived that, subject to ongoing revolutionary turbulence, family relations were being progressively transformed. Moreover, it is suggested that his views on violence warrant further exploration than is ordinarily provided in mainstream and conventional accounts of his work. While pessimistic, Fanon’s concerns about the evolution of postcolonial societies were also timely and prescient.