Reimagining political concepts in decolonisation debates: Franz Fanon’s zone of nonbeing and comparative education

The purpose of this article is twofold. First, it critically examines the limitations of reductive and essentialist categorisations within decolonisation debates in the field of comparative education, arguing that such framings hinder rather than enable transformative efforts. Second, it draws on Frantz Fanon's concept of the zone of nonbeing to advocate for a more profound engagement with the lived experiences and ontological realities of colonised peoples. Rather than reproducing colonial logics through essentialist positions, the article calls for the development of new political concepts that foreground anticolonial thought. It contends that conceptual innovation – grounded in political struggle – can revitalise decolonisation work and overcome the shortcomings of essentialism and simplistic positionality. The article concludes by urging scholars in comparative education to reframe decolonisation debates through a more politically attuned and ontologically grounded lens; it is argued that this reframing promises to open new intellectual and political horizons for the field.