Le Voile De La Folie : To Assimilate or To Be Assimilated

• In Event: Black Educational Experiences in the Crosshairs

Abstract

Modern sociologists only apply the cycle of socialization and liberation when it comes to understanding patterns of oppression and behaviors in institutions. In the field of education, sociologists use Bobbie Harro's theories of cycles to develop inclusive pedagogies that acknowledge and challenge oppressive socialization. By incorporating these models into teaching practices, educators aim to create awareness and promote discussions about privilege, power, and oppression. In the Africana studies research field, the sociological theory has yet to be adopted. But, the cycle of socialization and liberation can be used to contextualize social movements. The theories will be used as a model for understanding the key factors for Martinician liberation. To provide insights into prevailing colonial ideologies, socio-political conditions, and intellectual currents of the time, the study will be looking at key moments in Martinique's history that have a direct relation to their departmentalization. Enhancing the interpretation of the texts’ meanings and implications considering Aime Cesaire and Frantz Fanon's theoretical frameworks, Symbolic interactionism offers, in the context of these works, insights into how individuals’ interactions and perceptions contribute to the perpetuation of neo-colonial power dynamics. The study will also take a political role, in understanding the intellectual hegemony that plagued the people of Martinique and Cesaire himself, advocating that there is a necessary need for insanity to dismantle systems of oppression. Though the theorists this study will be using are considered postcolonial theorists; the study will argue that there is no such thing as postcolonial but neocolonialism.

Author

• Dulcine Stephens, University of Delaware