Single-founder narratives misrepresent how ideologies actually emerge and spread

Evidence

The search for and designation of the seminal figure should have been by this time recognized as a frequently misconceived and reductionist venture. This seems particularly the case when ideas and ideology are the subject of investigation. Whether codified in a didactic or scholastic literature or manifest in social collectives, the elements of consciousness and thought are generally shared by force of circumstance, social and historical continuity, language, culture, and interest. Individual achievement may be seen as the culmination of a collective momentum marked by extraordinary circumstance (imagination, location, etc.). As such it is likely it is being replicated or in the process of coming into being elsewhere, either simultaneously or otherwise. — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 2174

Categorization

• DEFINE: Looks like the genuine thesis of why the ‘seminal figure’ search misfires for the Black radical tradition’s conjuncture.
• XREF: Connects to the reader’s stated search for the tradition’s origin — directly responds to whether a single point of origin exists.