Between Presence and Conspicuous Absences: Fanon in Moroccan Political Thought

This paper examines the influence of Frantz Fanon’s decolonial thought within the Moroccan Left, spanning from the late 1960s to the Arab uprisings’ era. Drawing on an analysis of published texts and firsthand interviews, it traces the ways in which pivotal figures and movements of the Moroccan Left, the social democratic Ittihadi tradition and the Marxists of Ila al-Amam, engaged with Fanon’s ideas. Through this exploration, the research not only underscores the direct engagement with Fanon’s oeuvre, but also the more subtle underground currents through which that influence endured and contributed to shaping Moroccan political thought. Finally, it concludes with a brief overview and questioning of the notable absences and more recent timid reemergence of Fanonian thought in some corners of the Moroccan Left.