Colonialism Theories

Franz Fanon Key theory

• Fanon argued colonisation causes deep phycological damage, particularly a sense of inferiority in the colonised who internalise the coloniser’s sense of superiority

Franz Fanon revolution

• Fanon controversially argued that violence is a necessary and cathartic force in the decolonisation process

• Revolutionary violence is not just strategic but also physiologically liberating for the oppressed

Three groups colonisation divides native population into

1. Colonised intellectual - more educated members recruited by settler as spokespeople of colonial interests

2. The native worker - valued by settlers for their labour

3. The lumpenproletariat - poorest class typically dismissed by Marxist for being outside working class

Homi Bhabha Key Theory

• Cultural hybridity - explores how colonised individuals often exist between cultures embodying multiple identities shaped by both indigenous and colonial influences

Homi Bhabha Comprador class

• Comprador class - colonised middle class individuals who do administrative roles on behalf of the colonisers such as learning language, dress and behaviour

• This mimicry signals compliance within the imperial system

• Colonised can never fully embody coloniser - ‘not quite/not white’ therefore reinforcing racial and cultural boundaries