James distrusted the revolutionary petit bourgeoisie, insisting masses lead themselves

Evidence

Unlike his confederates, he was compelled to face up to the boundaries beyond which the revolutionary petit bourgeoisie could not be trusted. For that reason he was to insist often that the revolutionary masses must preserve to themselves the direction of the revolutionary movement, never deferring to professional revolutionists, parties, or the intelligentsia. — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1298

Categorization

Category: Causal Relationships

• XREF: Stands in tension with the Leninist vanguardism examined throughout the book; relates to Robinson’s critique of Marxist orthodoxy’s marginalization of Black self-organization.

Related

• Robinson reads James’s Toussaint as masked self-critique of the Black intelligentsia (similarity 0.84)
• James’s insight severed revolutionary consciousness from bourgeois ideology for Black peoples (similarity 0.83)
• The petit bourgeois intelligentsia dominated Marxist theory and the Bolshevik revolution (similarity 0.80)
• Revolutionary leadership comes disproportionately from those privileged by the system they attack (similarity 0.79)
• James pushed Marxian philosophy to its postwar limit while staying disciplined within the tradition. (similarity 0.79)
• Petit bourgeoisie led then betrayed the proletarian movement in both Stalinism and Fascism (similarity 0.79)
• Nonviolent mass action handed Black liberation back to bourgeois mediators (similarity 0.78)
• The petit bourgeoisie assumed proletarian leadership and then betrayed it. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• James concluded revolutionary masses rather than vanguard cadre preserve revolutions #corroborates (0.85)