‘Freedom And Development In Historical Perspective: A Comparison Of Gandhi And Fanon’s Approaches To Liberation’

This paper will explore and compare the Fanonian and Ghandian approaches to liberation. Whilst traditional discussions of either man tend to be reduced to an excursus on the role and value of violence in the cause of freedom, this paper addresses and goes beyond the traditional paradigms to engage with their deeper, more holistic concepts of liberation. In so doing it will highlight what I believe to be their overriding similarities and their particularly resonant takes on liberation as the expansion of complementary freedoms. I will focus on the political-national, cultural, economic and social liberation of those they fought for, and will highlight the constant and crucial interplay between the individual and the collective in their writings.