Echoes of Frantz Fanon in the place and space of an alternative black mental health centre

Abstract

This paper draws on the published work of Frantz Fanon to engage critically with the findings of a qualitative study of experiences within an alternative black mental health centre in Liverpool. Fanon’s critique of colonialism and exhortations for revolutionary action chimes in with the activist beginnings of this centre, and the positive experiences of service recipients are juxtaposed with previous negative experiences in the mainstream mental health system. Notions of place and space are particularly emphasised. These crucial variables were also arguably at the heart of Fanon’s critique of western psychiatry and its institutional failings. The relative neglect of Fanon within psychiatry has arguably been to the detriment of the provision of appropriate care and support for black communities in the UK.