The Wretched of the Earth

 Hello everyone,

This blog is responding to a thinking activity task assigned by Megha Ma’am, which is based on the postcolonial text ‘The Wretched of the Earth’ by Frantz Fanon.

#About Non-Fiction work:

‘The Wretched of the Earth’

"The Wretched of the Earth" by Frantz Fanon is a groundbreaking nonfiction work that analyzes the process of decolonization and the psychological and sociopolitical effects of colonialism, focusing especially on Africa and the Algerian War of Independence. Fanon theorizes that colonial rule dehumanizes the colonized through systemic violence, dividing society into colonizer and colonized and enforcing psychological as well as material oppression. He contends that the act of decolonization inevitably involves violence and that liberation occurs only when the formerly colonized actively reclaim both their land and identity.

Fanon’s text is structured around several key essays that explore themes such as colonial violence, the creation of national consciousness, and the development of culture in postcolonial societies. He critiques native elites for replicating colonial hierarchies after independence, and instead elevates the rural masses as the true agents of revolutionary social change. The book’s influence lies in its dual function as a philosophical treatise and a call to action, shaping discourse on postcolonial identity, history, and resistance for generations.

#About Author: Frantz Fanon

Frantz Omar Fanon was a French West Indian psychiatrist, and political philosopher, from the French colony of Martinique. His works have become influential in the fields of post-colonial studies, and critical theory. He critically examined the dehumanizing impact of colonialism on both the colonized and colonizers.

Fanon's works are foundational in postcolonial studies, Black existentialism, and critical race theory.

His ideas have significantly influenced psychology. philosophy, political science, and cultural studies, inspiring liberation movements across Africa, the Caribbean, and beyond. Key thinkers like Edward Said, Homi K. Bhabha, and bell hooks have been drawn from Fanon's theories. His advocacy for revolutionary violence is controversial but central to his theory of decolonization.His other famous works: Black Skin White Mask,A Dying Colonialism

Here are answers of questions assigned by Megha Ma’am regarding work ‘The Wretched of the Earth’.

Q-1: What does Fanon mean when he says “the infrastructure is also a superstructure” in colonialism?

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Marxist Background

1.3 Fanon’s Reinterpretation

1.4  Insights from Gibson’s Article

1.5 Colonialism as Total Structure

1.6 Revolutionary Implication

1.7 Conclusion

1.1 Introduction

Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth (1961) is a foundational text in postcolonial theory, examining how colonialism functions as a system of economic, political, and psychological domination. His statement that “in colonial countries the economic substructure is also a superstructure” redefines the classical Marxist model. Fanon argues that under colonialism, economic exploitation and ideological domination are inseparable, forming a single mechanism of control.

I’m mentioning one article related to this statement of fanon which is based on fanon’s work. In that As Nigel C. Gibson explains in his essay “Fanon and Marx Revisited” (2020), Fanon’s “stretching” of Marxism demonstrates that colonial society fuses base and superstructure, where “cause and effect, base and superstructure, change places.”

1.2 Marxist Background 

In Marxist theory, the infrastructure (base) refers to economic structures—relations of production and ownership—while the superstructure comprises cultural, political, and ideological systems that reflect and reinforce the base. In European capitalism, these levels are distinct, though interdependent.

However, Fanon transforms this framework for the colonial world, where the economic and the ideological cannot be separated because colonialism enforces its material domination through racial ideology and spatial segregation.

1.3 Fanon’s Reinterpretation

In The Wretched of the Earth, Fanon observes that colonial society is divided into two worlds: the “colonizer’s sector”—rich, bright, and ordered—and the “native sector”—poor, dark, and chaotic. These are not just social symbols; they are material realities of racial hierarchy. Hence, “the economic substructure is also a superstructure.”

In other words, the colonizer’s wealth and the native’s poverty are both economic facts and ideological statements. Fanon encapsulates this when he writes: “You are rich because you are white; you are white because you are rich.” This means the ideology of white superiority is inseparable from the material infrastructure of colonial exploitation.

1.4 Insights from Gibson’s Article

Nigel C. Gibson, in “Fanon and Marx Revisited,” highlights that Fanon’s insight “stretches Marxism” by showing how race becomes the determining line that merges infrastructure and superstructure. Gibson explains that Fanon reconfigures Marx’s dialectic to fit colonial conditions, where ideology and economics are not layered but dialectically rearranged. Colonial space itself becomes the visible expression of this unity: the geography of wealth mirrors the psychology of domination.

Gibson notes that Fanon’s argument exposes how the colonial system “hides no contradictions beneath the surface”—the violence of economic control is openly visible and racialized.

1.5 Colonialism as Total Structure

For Fanon, colonialism is not merely an economic enterprise but a total structure of oppression—material, psychological, and cultural. The colonized are exploited as laborers and dehumanized as subjects. This double domination blurs Marx’s distinction between base and superstructure, since both serve the same purpose: the maintenance of colonial power.

Thus, the infrastructure (economic order) in colonies directly produces and sustains the superstructure (racist ideology, religion, and administration). The colonial church, school, and military all reinforce the same hierarchical economy.

1.6 Revolutionary Implication

Because the colonial system unites material and ideological domination, Fanon insists that decolonization must destroy both. Liberation cannot come through economic reform alone; it requires dismantling the entire colonial structure—its racial ideologies, political hierarchies, and capitalist dependencies. Gibson supports this view, reading Fanon as a thinker of permanent revolution, who connects Marxist categories to anti-colonial praxis.

1.7 Conclusion

When Fanon asserts that “the infrastructure is also a superstructure,” he exposes the totalizing nature of colonialism, where race, economy, and ideology operate as one. Colonialism fuses material exploitation and psychological subjugation so completely that they become identical aspects of the same system. Gibson’s interpretation clarifies that Fanon “stretches” Marx to reveal how colonial domination embodies both the base and superstructure in one visible, violent order—making decolonization a process of transforming not only economic relations but also consciousness and space itself.

Q 2: Describe how decolonization fits into a larger global capitalist picture

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Decolonization and Global Capitalism (Fanon’s Perspective)

1.3 Manipulation of Nationalism and Neocolonial Pressures (Caute’s Perspective)

1.4 Integration: Decolonization within Global Capitalism

1.5 Conclusion

1.1 Introduction

Decolonization, as a historical and political process, was not merely the transfer of power from colonial rulers to local elites. According to Frantz Fanon in The Wretched of the Earth, it is a radical upheaval that challenges both political domination and the economic structures that sustain global capitalism. Colonialism was built on the exploitation of land, labor, and resources, and the fight for independence directly threatens these global economic hierarchies.

1.2 Decolonization and Global Capitalism (Fanon’s Perspective)

Fanon emphasizes that colonialism is deeply intertwined with capitalism: European powers amassed wealth by extracting resources and exploiting labor in colonies. Decolonization disrupts this system, often violently, because the colonized masses reclaim not only political sovereignty but also economic agency. Fanon argues that true liberation requires restructuring society to break free from inherited economic hierarchies. Mere political independence without economic reform risks perpetuating colonial inequalities under a new guise.

1.3 Manipulation of Nationalism and Neocolonial Pressures (Caute’s Perspective)

David Caute, in “These Dogs Will Do as We Say”, highlights how Western powers attempted to control newly independent African nations by influencing nationalist movements. Even after formal independence, economic dependency persisted through global capitalist pressures, diplomatic interventions, and economic agreements favoring former colonial powers. This shows that decolonization often faced constraints that limited genuine economic autonomy, demonstrating the continuity between colonial exploitation and postcolonial economic subjugation.

1.4 Integration: Decolonization within Global Capitalism

Combining Fanon and Caute’s perspectives, it is clear that decolonization must be understood within a global capitalist framework. Political independence alone cannot guarantee liberation; economic autonomy and social restructuring are essential. The challenge lies in overcoming the lingering influence of former colonial powers and the global capitalist system that benefits from unequal development.

1.5 Conclusion

Decolonization is both a political and economic struggle. Fanon’s analysis underscores the necessity of radical social and economic change, while Caute illustrates the subtler forms of neocolonial influence that shape postcolonial states. Together, they reveal that the fight for independence is inseparable from global capitalist dynamics, and that true freedom requires confronting both political and economic hierarchies inherited from colonialism.

References:

Gibson, N. C. (2020). Fanon and Marx Revisited. Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology, 51(4), 320–336. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071773.2020.1732570 

Fanon, Frantz. The Wretched of the Earth. Translated by Constance Farrington, Penguin, 2001.

Whittle, M. (2014). “These dogs will do as we say”: African nationalism in the era of decolonization in David Caute’s At Fever Pitch and Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth. Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 51(3), 269–282. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449855.2014.968289 

Thank You!