Reading Contemporary Decolonial Iconoclasm in Belgium with Žižek, Yousfi and Fanon

In this chapter, I reflect on the contemporary deployment of crude and destructive methods of decolonial contestation as exemplified by the iconoclastic campaign against Belgium’s colonialist patrimony in June 2020, which formed part of the global Black Lives Matter protests at the time. I consider and discuss some internal and sympathetic critiques of the use of such methods, as well as the more sophisticated, “artivist” modes of contestation characteristic of prior protests over Belgium’s colonialist heritage, arguing that some of the latter’s frustrations, limitations and pitfalls can be seen to be avoided by the recent resort to more straightforward, crass protest modes, whilst also explaining this change of tack. Observing a general discomfort with, if not bias against such modes, I theoretically explore their specific efficacy, rationale and legitimacy by turning to arguments made by Slavoj Žižek, Fredric Jameson, Louisa Yousfi and Frantz Fanon.