Reddit mentions of The Wretched of the Earth

Fanon is this book.

Counter-advice: never take a class on colonialism at a liberal arts school.

Great analysis. I can point you to Ward Churchill's Pacifism as Pathology for a really interesting take on violence. In his view, it's absurd to go up against an institution (say, the US Congress) with peaceful, picket-sign holding protesters and expect to effect change within the institution through that action. To completely write off the inhibition of physical processes of the state as "going too far" is basically to declare that your actions will be purely symbolic and not truly change-making. It's just insane to think that opposing such organized violence as the US Military puts forth by chanting slogans will actually change anything. It's an interesting view, but it basically calls for destruction of property and violence comparable to the student protests in Britain right now and the recent French strikes.

Here are Nandy's and Fanon's books by the way.

I'll say that no one understands a lot of concepts in political theory the first time they come across them. Keep in mind that we're really skimming over this - Nandy's analysis was from the psychosocial field's perspective. The topic was human phenomenological experience of colonialism and the ideas shared through it and the social/cultural forms it took. Nandy goes deep into this. He analyzed sexuality because the two cultures at odds (colonial Britain and colonized India) had such radically different forms of socially accepted sexuality, that colonialism became mostly about the success of its civilizing mission. He characterized the British as hyper-masculine and the Indians as venerating androgeny. Colonialism, he argued, caused the colonized to accept the imposed colonial values and become the violent, hyper-masculine counterplayers to the colonists. The best way to emancipation from this is not to play that role, but to deny its legitimacy altogether. It is admittedly a very compelling argument. Nandy's most interesting section, imo, is where he covers the difference between history and mythology and also differences in cultural conceptions of time. It's almost candy for the mind to get into abstract - perhaps better said, higher level - ideas and how to comprehend them.

Fanon has an entire chapter devoted to the mental defects caused to the Algerians and the French during the occupation in the 60s. Profound destruction was done to human lives on both sides: torture victims, mentally beaten victims, policemen, torturers, families, children. He talks about a police officer who started to beat his family after becoming a torturer. The man came to him asking how he could be good at his job and not do this to his family. To quote Fanon: "there is no need to be wounded by a bullet to suffer from the effects of war in body and soul."

This is great stuff to devote learning time to, I think. It's rewarding to analyze human experience in what seems to be a more truthful manner, but it also comes with an understanding of the absurdity that it often is partial to. That can be frustrating. Racial Contract Theory and Marxism are two critiques of human phenomenological experience that, to me, were perspective-widening. I would also recommend those.

I'm gonna take the long shot here and recommend Paulo Freire - Pedagogy of the Oppressed. It's the type of book that'd slip pass prison restriction (assuming you from US), but also equally powerful and can profoundly impact and influence your nephew's ideology. Pedagogy Of The Oppressed educates one how to think for themselves, and not thinking like other. It's an extremely powerful book that few leftists talk about it. I recommend it.

Also The Wretched Of The Earth by Franz Fanon is another great book I'd recommend.