Nigel Gibson
Encyclopedia
Nigel Gibson is an activist, a scholar specializing in philosophy and a noted author. He was born in London and was an active militant in the 1984 -1985 Miners' Strike. While in London he also met South African exiles from the Black Consciousness Movement
and, in conversation with the exiles, developed some influential academic work on the movement. He later moved to the United States where he worked with Raya Dunayevskaya
in the Marxist Humanism
movement, studied with Edward Said
and became an important theorist of Frantz Fanon
on whom he has written extensively. He has also coedited a major collection of work on Theodor Adorno with Andrew N. Rubin and is a co-editor of a collection of work on Steve Biko
. His recent work has been marked by a return to an interest in Frantz Fanon (see his edited collection Living Fanon) with a particular focus on the reception of Fanon in popular struggles in South Africa (see Fanonian Practices in South Africa). He is a member of the Committee for Academic Freedom in Africa and has addressed the United Nations.
. He is currently Director of the Honors Program at Emerson College, and an Honorary Research Fellow at the School of Development Studies at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal.
. According to the association "Gibson has set a high standard in Fanon studies and historically-informed political thought on Africa and the Caribbean."
The Pitfalls of South Africa's Liberation
Thoughts about doing Fanonism in the 1990s
The limits of black political empowerment: Fanon, Marx, 'the Poors' and the 'new reality of the nation' in South Africa
Is Fanon Relevant? Translations, the postcolonial imagination and the second stage of total liberation
Zabalaza, Unfinished struggles against apartheid: the shackdwellers' movement in Durban
A New Politics of the Poor Emerges from South Africa's Shanty Towns
Is Fanon Relevant? Towards an alternative introduction to the 'Damned of the Earth
Upright and free: Fanon in South Africa, from Biko to Abahlali baseMjondolo
Fanonian Practices and the politics of space in postapartheid South Africa: The Challenge of the Shack Dwellers Movement
Democracy’s everyday death: South Africa's quiet coup co-authored with Raj Patel
Egypt and the revolution in our minds, Pambazuka, 18 February 2011
What Happened to the “Promised Land”? A Fanonian Perspective on Post-Apartheid South Africa, Antipode, 2011
London calling: Fanon, spontaneity and the English insurrections
Black Consciousness Movement
The Black Consciousness Movement was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress leadership after the Sharpeville Massacre in...
and, in conversation with the exiles, developed some influential academic work on the movement. He later moved to the United States where he worked with Raya Dunayevskaya
Raya Dunayevskaya
Raya Dunayevskaya was the founder of the philosophy of Marxist Humanism in the United States of America. At one time Leon Trotsky's secretary, she later split with him and ultimately founded the organization News and Letters Committees and was its leader until her death.-Biography:Of Jewish...
in the Marxist Humanism
Marxist humanism
Marxist humanism is a branch of Marxism that primarily focuses on Marx's earlier writings, especially the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 in which Marx espoused his theory of alienation, as opposed to his later works, which are considered to be concerned more with his structural...
movement, studied with Edward Said
Edward Said
Edward Wadie Saïd was a Palestinian-American literary theorist and advocate for Palestinian rights. He was University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and a founding figure in postcolonialism...
and became an important theorist of Frantz Fanon
Frantz Fanon
Frantz Fanon was a Martiniquo-Algerian psychiatrist, philosopher, revolutionary and writer whose work is influential in the fields of post-colonial studies, critical theory and Marxism...
on whom he has written extensively. He has also coedited a major collection of work on Theodor Adorno with Andrew N. Rubin and is a co-editor of a collection of work on Steve Biko
Steve Biko
Stephen Biko was a noted anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. A student leader, he later founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of the...
. His recent work has been marked by a return to an interest in Frantz Fanon (see his edited collection Living Fanon) with a particular focus on the reception of Fanon in popular struggles in South Africa (see Fanonian Practices in South Africa). He is a member of the Committee for Academic Freedom in Africa and has addressed the United Nations.
Affiliation
He was previously the Assistant Director of African Studies at Columbia University and a Research Associate in African-American Studies at Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He is currently Director of the Honors Program at Emerson College, and an Honorary Research Fellow at the School of Development Studies at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal.
Prizes
In 2009 he was awarded the Fanon prize by the Caribbean Philosophical AssociationCaribbean Philosophical Association
The Caribbean Philosophical Association is a philosophical organization founded in 2002 at the Center for Caribbean Thought at the University of the West Indies, in Mona, Jamaica. The founding members were George Belle, B. Anthony Bogues, Patrick Goodin, Lewis Gordon, Clevis Headley, Paget Henry,...
. According to the association "Gibson has set a high standard in Fanon studies and historically-informed political thought on Africa and the Caribbean."
Books
-
- Rethinking Fanon: The Continuing Legacy Humanity Books, 1999.
- Contested Terrains and Constructed Categories: Contemporary Africa in Focus (with George C. Bond) Westview, 2002.
- Adorno: A Critical Reader (with Andrew N. Rubin) Blackwell, 2002.
- Fanon: The Postcolonial Imagination Polity, 2003.
- Challenging Hegemony: Social Movements and the Quest for a New Humanism in Post-Apartheid South Africa Africa World Press, 2006.
- Biko Lives: Contesting the Legacies of Steve Biko (with Andile Mngxitama and Amanda Alexander) Palgrave MacMillan, 2008.
- Fanonian Practices in South Africa: From Steve Biko to Abahlali baseMjondolo UKZN Press and Palgrave MacMillan, 2011
- Living Fanon: Interdisciplinary Perspectives Palgrave MacMillan, 2011
Selected online articles
Black Consciousness 1977-1987: The Dialectics of Liberation in South AfricaThe Pitfalls of South Africa's Liberation
Thoughts about doing Fanonism in the 1990s
The limits of black political empowerment: Fanon, Marx, 'the Poors' and the 'new reality of the nation' in South Africa
Is Fanon Relevant? Translations, the postcolonial imagination and the second stage of total liberation
Zabalaza, Unfinished struggles against apartheid: the shackdwellers' movement in Durban
A New Politics of the Poor Emerges from South Africa's Shanty Towns
Is Fanon Relevant? Towards an alternative introduction to the 'Damned of the Earth
Upright and free: Fanon in South Africa, from Biko to Abahlali baseMjondolo
Fanonian Practices and the politics of space in postapartheid South Africa: The Challenge of the Shack Dwellers Movement
Democracy’s everyday death: South Africa's quiet coup co-authored with Raj Patel
Raj Patel
Raj Patel is a British-born American academic, journalist, activist and writer who has lived and worked in Zimbabwe, South Africa and the United States for extended periods. He is best known for his 2008 book, Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System...
Egypt and the revolution in our minds, Pambazuka, 18 February 2011
What Happened to the “Promised Land”? A Fanonian Perspective on Post-Apartheid South Africa, Antipode, 2011
London calling: Fanon, spontaneity and the English insurrections