Fanon’s Humanism: An Interview with Nigel Gibson

Abstract

Humanism is obviously a crucial facet of a humanistic psychology, and a new—or decolonial—humanism is likewise crucial for Frantz Fanon’s work, but these two areas of scholarship and practice have seldom been put into a sustained dialogue. As a way of beginning such a dialogue, Nigel Gibson, one of the foremost experts on the work of Frantz Fanon, speaks with Derek Hook and Leswin Laubscher about Fanon’s ideas of a new humanism, agency, action, and liberatory practice in the context of colonial oppression and dehumanization. Key conceptualizations from Fanon’s pioneering books—Black Skin, White Masks, The Wretched of the Earth, and A Dying Colonialism—are discussed and clarified. Gibson also refers to sections of Fanon’s recently translated psychiatric writings. Drawing on several of Gibson’s books on Fanon—including Combat Breathing (2025)—this far-ranging discussion explores topics such as Fanon’s notion of combined action (psychotherapeutic and political action), self-actualization, socio-therapy, African Humanism, and Fanon’s views on violence.