How We Walk
Frantz Fanon and the Politics of the Body
Published on 5. March 2024
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-1-80429-007-1 (ISBN)
Description
You can tell a lot about people by how they walk. Matthew Beaumont argues that our standing, walking body holds the social traumas of history and its racialized inequalities. Our posture and gait reflect our social and political experiences as we navigate the city under capitalism. Through a series of dialogues with thinkers and walkers, his book explores the relationship between freedom and the human body
How We Walk foregrounds the work of Frantz Fanon, psychiatrist and leading thinker of liberation, who was one of the first people to think about the politics of 'walking while black'. It also introduces us to the renegade psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich, who wrote that one could discern the truth about a person through their posture and gait. For Marxist philosopher Ernst Bloch, the ability to walk upright and with ease is a sign of personal and social freedom.
Through these excursions, Beaumont reimagines the canonical literature on walking and presents a new interpretation of the impact of class and race on our physical and political mobility, raising important questions about the politics of the body.
How We Walk foregrounds the work of Frantz Fanon, psychiatrist and leading thinker of liberation, who was one of the first people to think about the politics of 'walking while black'. It also introduces us to the renegade psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich, who wrote that one could discern the truth about a person through their posture and gait. For Marxist philosopher Ernst Bloch, the ability to walk upright and with ease is a sign of personal and social freedom.
Through these excursions, Beaumont reimagines the canonical literature on walking and presents a new interpretation of the impact of class and race on our physical and political mobility, raising important questions about the politics of the body.
Reviews / Votes
Beaumont is one of the most brilliant of the younger generation of English critics -- Terry Eagleton, author of <i>How to Read Literature</i> In this fascinating and wide-ranging book, Beaumont reminds us that walking is far from a neutral activity; it is, rather, "irreducibly political". With the help of Frantz Fanon, Beaumont locates freedom at the level of the body; free from the systems of oppression, exploitation, and harassment. -- Lauren Elkin, author of <i>Flaneuse</i> Easily translating abstruse philosophical concepts into fluid prose, Beaumont sheds light on the inherent impossibility of existing as a Black body in a colonialized society ... Assured and erudite, this is well worth a look. * Publishers Weekly, starred review * A necessary reminder of the depth and relevancy of Fanon's political thought and philosophy. -- Sudip Bhattacharya * Counterpunch *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 214 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
314 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80429-007-1 (9781804290071)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
03/2024
Verso Books
€24.49
Available for download
Person
Matthew Beaumont, a Professor of English Literature at University College London, is the author of several books for Verso, including Nightwalking: A Nocturnal History of London (2015), The Walker: On Finding and Losing Yourself in the Modern City (2020) and How We Walk: Frantz Fanon and the Politics of the Body (forthcoming, 2024). He is also the author of Lev Shestov: Philosopher of the Sleepless Night (2021). For Verso, he has co-authored The Task of the Critic: Terry Eagleton in Dialogue (2009) and co-edited Restless Cities (2010).
Content
Preface
Introduction: The Body Arrested
1. The Racialized Body: Fanon Walks with Garnette Cadogan
2. The Exploited Body: Fanon Walks with Ernst Bloch
3. The Disordered Body: Fanon Walks with Nikolaus Friedreich
4. The Paralysed Body: Fanon Walks with Peter Moss
5. The Armoured Body: Fanon Walks with Wilhelm Reich
6. The Body Transformed: Fanon Walks with Assia Djebar
Notes
Index
Introduction: The Body Arrested
1. The Racialized Body: Fanon Walks with Garnette Cadogan
2. The Exploited Body: Fanon Walks with Ernst Bloch
3. The Disordered Body: Fanon Walks with Nikolaus Friedreich
4. The Paralysed Body: Fanon Walks with Peter Moss
5. The Armoured Body: Fanon Walks with Wilhelm Reich
6. The Body Transformed: Fanon Walks with Assia Djebar
Notes
Index