Saturday, December 21, 2019
Violence Is The Fundamental Factor That Defines The...
Violence is inescapable when considering political agenda. In the words of Fanon, ââ¬Å"National liberation, national reawakening, restoration of the nation to the people or Commonwealth, whatever the name used, whatever the latest expression, decolonization is always a violent eventâ⬠(1). According to Fanon, violence is the fundamental factor that defines the meaning and practice of colonisation. In Fanonââ¬â¢s chapter ââ¬Å"On Violenceâ⬠, he writes predominately about the centrality of violence in resisting colonial rule. However, violence is not limited to playing a significant role in just colonisation. Marx and Engelsââ¬â¢ The Communist Manifesto encompasses ideas of violence in social revolution and communism. In Marxââ¬â¢s theory, Marx writes of aâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦They are protected by solid shoes in a sector where the streets are clean and smooth, without a pothole, without a stone. The colonistââ¬â¢s sector is a sated, sluggish secto r, itââ¬â¢s belly is permanently full of good things. (4) Fanon writes the colonists sector to be a sheltered world of privilege and wealth. The colonised s sector, in contrast, is chaotic, lacking in personal space, and famished. Fanon states, ââ¬Å"You are born anywhere, anyhow. You die anywhere, from anything. Itââ¬â¢s a world with no space, people are piled one on top of the other, the shacks squeezed tightly together. The colonizedââ¬â¢s sector is a famished sector, hungry for bread, meat, shoes, coal, and lightâ⬠(4). In the world of the privileged and the famished, violence is an all-encompassing element in political agenda, therefore, the idea of life and death inevitably comes to mind. In the way that the colonised were oppressed, Fanon invites readers to consider the sanctity of life and death. The succinct segregation between the two classes indicates the way in which lives were lived, in polar opposites. While the colonisers had ââ¬Å"bell[ies] permanently full of good thingsâ⬠, Fanon writes the colonised to be ââ¬Å"born anywhere, anyhowâ⬠, and ââ¬Å"die anywhere, from anythingâ⬠. In the conditions described, the colonised people did not seem to be permitted to live human lives. This quote is interesting when considering the attitudes of
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