The Normal and the Pathological: Frantz Fanon, Georges Canguilhem, and Colonial Fascism

Abstract: This article unpacks Frantz Fanon’s theoretical analysis of the normal and the pathological through the French philosopher of science, Georges Canguilhem. Placing Fanon in conversation with Canguilhem I argue that, for Fanon, racism is pathological because it establishes a norm that continually constrains openness towards the future. Drawing on historical and contemporary debates on fascism, vitalism, necropolitics, and biopolitics, I show how Fanon engages with Canguilhem’s theory of the normal and the pathological to revise his account of fascism, and to generate a vital, anti-fascist, anti-colonial, politics through a volunteer army—the African Legion.