Robinson reads James’s Toussaint as masked self-critique of the Black intelligentsia

Evidence

We, of course, recognize James (and perhaps even his impressions of Padmore) in these assertions. We can see the declared identification of a Black revolutionary intelligentsia with the masses; the willingness to continue the submission to “scientific socialism” by denying the material force of ideology while indicating a bitter disappointment with the Communist movement; the patronizing attitude toward the organic leaders of the masses; and the ambivalent pride of place presumed for the Westernized ideologue. Moreover, it is clear that James was looking critically at his own class. 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

• XREF: Connects to Robinson’s overarching case that Black radical theory must distrust vanguard intellectuals, echoing themes from earlier Frankfurt-material chapters and his critique of ‘scientific socialism.’