Frantz Fanon's Political Thought on Tabula Rasa: An Imperative for a Genuine Decolonisation

Abstract

More than 60 years after his death, Frantz Fanon's decolonial political thought on the concept of tabula rasa remains influential, unique, and relevant. It is highly sought after by colonized subjects who continue to confront the ongoing project of colonialism. This chapter aims to examine Fanon's reasoning on tabula rasa, defined as a new beginning from a zero point. Fanon's decolonial political thought on tabula rasa differentiates two forms of decolonization: 'pseudo-decolonization' and 'genuine decolonization.' Pseudo-decolonization is described as false, superficial, or symbolic, whereas genuine decolonization is real, authentic, and veritable. In Fanon's political imagination, colonized subjects are urged to seek genuine decolonization, which, he argues, emerges from an inevitable and violent struggle between the colonizers and the colonized. The absence of such a profound and transformative struggle—tabula rasa—means that the colonized remain subjugated and only superficially decolonized. Fanon's mastery of the concept of tabula rasa allows for a clear differentiation between pseudo-decolonization and genuine decolonization, emphasizing the necessity of a fundamental and radical break from colonial structures.