Chapter 3, The Pitfalls of National Consciousness Summary and Analysis

Fanon discusses at length the fragile state of national unity and the threats to its survival that could undermine and eventually destroy the decolonialist rebellion. He also poses the age-old Marxist question whether a bourgeoisie is a phase of the revolution that can be, in effect, skipped on the road to independence.

Once the slogans are no longer chanted and the emotions that drive rebellion have started to cool, the delicate veneer of national consciousness begins to fall prey to regional and tribal interests and the revolutionary government creates just another class of petty bourgeoisie interested in pursuing their own welfare at the expense of others, Fanon says. This new middle class is counter-revolutionary in the extreme and creates a new hurdle for a truly popular, representative form of government.

This...