New Books in Critical Theory Zahi Zalloua, "Fanon, Žižek and the Violence of Resistance" (Bloomsbury, 2025)
Sep 17, 2025
Zahi Zalloua, a Cushing Eells Professor at Whitman College, delves into the provocative intersections of Frantz Fanon and Slavoj Žižek's philosophies. He unpacks how colonial violence shapes identity and critiqued liberalism's failure in addressing systemic injustices, particularly concerning Palestine and anti-Blackness. The discussion emphasizes the need for revolutionary violence as a response to oppressive structures while exploring the crucial role of imagination in forging transformative futures and fostering global solidarity among marginalized communities.
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Resistance Is Experienced As Violence
- Zahi Zalloua argues genuine resistance will be experienced as violence by the oppressor and can take many forms beyond armed struggle.
- He urges recognizing counterviolence responds to an originary, normalized violence against the oppressed.
Dismantle The Master's House
- Transformative resistance requires dismantling the master's house rather than using its tools, which Zahi ties to Audre Lorde's phrase.
- Destructive violence can be necessary to construct a new, universal politics that dissolves fixed identities.
Liberal Anti-Racism Preserves The Status Quo
- Zahi critiques white liberal anti-racism as invested in the status quo and obsessed with policing speech instead of structural change.
- He warns liberals avoid racial capitalism and depoliticize struggles by favoring reform over class antagonism.
