The Polemics of C.L.R. James and Contemporary Black Activism

This book draws on case examples of contemporary black activism in South Manchester and contrasts them with events that surrounded C.L.R. James and his activism between 1935 and 1950. In doing so, the author considers what Brexit, the Labour Party and Theresa May’s audit on racism in the UK have in common with the wartime decline of the British Empire, the rise and fall of the trade unions and the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. Clennon dialogues with James’ theoretical frameworks around capitalism, neoliberalism and post-colonialism, and uses this creative interplay of ideas to help make sense of contemporary events and issues of social justice from a UK ethnic minority perspective. Using Fanon, Gordon, Marx and Chakrabarty amongst others, the study explores James’ take on dialectical materialism and uses this as an ongoing analytical tool throughout the volume with which he weaves an uneasy path between post-colonial and post-Marxist theories. __The Polemics of C.L.R. James and Contemporary Black Activism__ will be of interest to students and scholars across a range of social science disciplines, including sociology, cultural studies, education and black studies. The Polemics of C.L.R. James and Contemporary Black Activism 3 Preface 6 Acknowledgements 7 Contents 8 1 Introduction - Finding C.L.R. James 9 Works Cited 13 2 A New Dawn. A New Day: Dialectical Materialism 14 Introduction 14 A New Democratic Thinking? 15 James’ Dialectical Materialism 16 Hegelian Dialecticism a Form of Neoliberalism. Really? 18 Bureaucratic Democracy Creating the Deception of Social Unity 21 Transposing the Deception of ‘Social Unity’ to the Market 24 Dialectism in Community Action? 26 Conclusion 30 Notes 30 Works Cited 36 3 All Together Now! The Rise of British Nationalism 40 The Decline of Empire 40 We’re All in This Together. Sound Familiar? 42 War, Metaphor and Social Unity 44 Domestic Colonialism 46 What’s Empire Got to Do with Brexit? 49 Brexit and Dialectical Materialism 52 Multiculturalism and Pan Africanism, to be continued.... 54 Conclusion 56 Notes 57 Works Cited 63 4 When Will The Revolution Be Televised? The Decline of the Trades Unions and the Rise of the Consumer 69 Introduction 69 A ‘Social Unity’ Amongst Workers? 70 So Why Do Trades Unions Seem to Be ‘Inherently’ Resistant to Racial Equality? 72 Tripartism, Privatised Keynesianism and Democracy 74 A Grass-roots Revolution in the UK? 79 Conclusion 81 Notes 81 Works Cited 85 5 We Don’t Need No Education. (Unless You’re Black). De-Colonised Education as a Tool for Political Activism 89 Introduction 89 Race and Class 90 The Relevance of Theory for Grass-roots Activism 92 Education as “A Battlefield, a Theater of Conflict” 94 Citizenship and Enterprise Education 97 A Jamesian Dialectical Cooperation? 100 Conclusion 101 Notes 102 Works Cited 110 6 We Are The World. Racial Capitalism and Its Links with Pan Africanism 115 Introduction 115 Bureaucratic Deceptive ‘Social Unity’? 117 Race as Class 118 James’ Dialectical Materialism 122 Dialectical Materialism and Pan Africanism 123 Contemporary Pan Africanism – A Collection of Social Movements? 126 Pan Africanism – Sociogeny for the Twenty-First Century 126 Pan Africanism – Fundamental Garveyism 128 Pan Africanism – International Consensus and Cooperation 128 Conclusion 129 Notes 130 Works Cited 133 This book draws on case examples of contemporary black activism in South Manchester and contrasts them with events that surrounded C.L.R. James and his activism between 1935 and 1950. In doing so, the author considers what Brexit, the Labour Party and Theresa May's audit on racism in the UK have in common with the wartime decline of the British Empire, the rise and fall of the trade unions and the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. Clennon dialogues with James' theoretical frameworks around capitalism, neoliberalism and post-colonialism, and uses this creative interplay of ideas to help make sense of contemporary events and issues of social justice from a UK ethnic minority perspective. Using Fanon, Gordon, Marx and Chakrabarty amongst others, the study explores James' take on dialectical materialism and uses this as an ongoing analytical tool throughout the volume with which he weaves an uneasy path between post-colonial and post-Marxist theories. -- From publisher's website This title draws on case examples of contemporary black activism in South Manchester and contrasts them with events that surrounded C.L.R. James and his activism between 1935 and 1950. In doing so, the author considers what Brexit, the Labour Party and Theresa May's audit on racism in the UK have in common with the wartime decline of the British Empire, the rise and fall of the trade unions and the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. Clennon dialogues with James' theoretical frameworks around capitalism, neoliberalism and post-colonialism, and uses this creative interplay of ideas to help make sense of contemporary events and issues of social justice from a UK ethnic minority perspective Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction - Finding C.L.R. James....Pages 1-5 A New Dawn. A New Day: Dialectical Materialism....Pages 7-32 All Together Now! The Rise of British Nationalism....Pages 33-61 When Will The Revolution Be Televised? The Decline of the Trades Unions and the Rise of the Consumer....Pages 63-82 We Don’t Need No Education. (Unless You’re Black). De-Colonised Education as a Tool for Political Activism....Pages 83-108 We Are The World. Racial Capitalism and Its Links with Pan Africanism....Pages 109-129