New Books Network Zahi Zalloua, "Fanon, Žižek and the Violence of Resistance" (Bloomsbury, 2025)
Sep 17, 2025
Zahi Zalloua, Cushing Eells Professor of Philosophy and Literature at Whitman College, dives into the compelling intersection of anti-colonial thought and Marxist philosophy. He discusses how violence intertwines with resistance, challenging the liberal paradigm of non-violence. Zalloua critiques the shortcomings of liberal ideologies in addressing systemic oppression, linking this to rising fascism. He also highlights the importance of imagination in crafting radical change and the need for solidarity in global justice movements.
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Resistance Is Experienced As Violence
- Genuine resistance will be experienced as violence by the oppressor because it delegitimizes the symbolic order.
- The daily, naturalized violence of colonialism is invisible and misframed when counter-violence appears.
Gandhi, Mandela Versus Systemic Violence
- Zahi gives the provocative Lacanian example that Gandhi and Mandela appear more violent than Hitler because they halted oppressive systems.
- The point highlights how dismantling a system can be perceived as greater violence than mass killing within a system.
Dismantling, Not Reform, Enables Change
- Transformative resistance requires dismantling the master's house rather than using its tools.
- Destructive violence can be necessary to create a new world, but must not be fetishized for its own sake.
