The Psychodynamics of Empowerment

Abstract

The life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Frantz Fanon represent radically different approaches to the problem of empowerment. Nonviolent confrontation and the outright espousal of violence both aimed through action to reverse the low self-esteem of blacks and the colonized of Africa and the Caribbean and to produce change, but under vastly different circumstances. In the case of nonviolence, or Gandhi’s satyagraha, passive resistance will bring about change particularly if it creates a sense of guilt supported by a moral code as well as legal redress. The more the objects of nonviolent confrontation retaliate with violence, the more guilt is generated and, ultimately, the greater the possibility of change by legal means. A charismatic leader, supported by followers gifted with tactical acumen, is essential in the nonviolent movement and is the agent for change through the effects of mass psychology and identification.