C.L.R. James: The Artist As Revolutionary

by Paul M. Buhle

C.L.R. James is one of the twentieth century’s most remarkable individuals. As the author of the influential book The Black Jacobins , he is widely recognized as the premier scholar of slave revolt; the publication of his acute and sensitive volume Beyond a Boundary  established an equal reputation as a historian of sport; and his tireless political and intellectual interventions have become the hallmark of a highly creative Marxist thinker, a brilliant dialectician and the last surviving pioneer of Pan-African liberation.

James’s work has never previously been studied in its entirety. Now Paul Buhle, a longtime editorial collaborator with James, has produced a rich and informed analysis of his accomplishments. Drawing upon extensive interviews with James, his critics and his erstwhile supporters, together with many previously unpublished documents, Buhle’s book offers an appreciative and enlightening portrait of the man and his times. The author also sheds new light on subjects ranging across Pan-Africanism, West Indian literature, British and American Marxism and the rise of third world nationalism.

Genres: Philosophy, Biography, Nonfiction

218 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Now retired as Senior Lecturer at Brown University, Paul Merlyn Buhle is the author or editor of 35 volumes including histories of radicalism in the United States and the Caribbean, studies of popular culture, and a series of nonfiction comic art volumes.

Reviews

[Yasmin · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was hard to get a grasp of this book, I know it's not a "typical" biography, if such a thing exists. But I didn't really like the fact the main author of this book brought the women of James vaguely, less by name than the/a "woman". I think the author was getting at James was a sort of feminist; however, there is nothing to indicate that was the case, quite the opposite in fact. As the author mentioned himself he had very little regard for his mother, only changing his mind as an old man. Better opportunity to reevaluate his and her lives or did he want an unblemished legacy? Either one doesn't work for me. His mother may have encouraged him more than anyone else, but that only gives him a regard for his mother not women overall. I'm not asking for the moon with James, after all it was not his upbringing and environment of the times for him to be a champion of feminism. On the other hand, the author doesn't let anyone suspect anything more than a scant regard for women's issues and nothing specifically for black women's rights. Furthermore, this book didn't really bring the reader any closer to knowing James the artist. The title of the book is misleading, the reader is left with the impression that James actually wrote very little and it's impact was minimal. I am also curious to know why the author missed out the purported meeting of James and Trotsky. Did or didn't it happen? Also, there was an issue for me as to the scope of the book There was nothing to particularly bring the book to life or the man whether it was his art or his politics. It may be a book to come back to to actually read if you're more familiar with James and his body of work. Otherwise you'll be left wondering what this book compliments if anything.

[JRT · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a highly descriptive and detailed account of the varied interests, works, and contributions of the great C.L.R. James. James was a giant in the areas of sociopolitical, economic, and cultural theory. He was a Marxist and early Pan Africanist who viewed socialist revolution as the answer to oppression all over the world, and placed the masses of Black people at the forefront of that revolution. While the author sometimes drifted too far into political philosophy, he always managed to highlight James' central belief that any social change needed to be democratically driven and pushed by the masses of people. This is a very good book for anybody who wants to learn about one of the giants of Afro-Caribbean history and political thought.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

C.L.R. James, after W.E.B. Du Bois, was this hemisphere's most important Black Marxist intellectual, but due to the segregation of the US left, I never heard of him. (I'm looking for audio versions of his major work, "The Black Jacobins"--about the Haitian Revolution--and the Hegel-laden "Notes on Dialectics.") "The Artist as Revolutionary" is very, very interesting--and rich with lessons about organizing-- but to be honest, it was difficult for me to read because my knowledge of the history of the Caribbean, the United States, Europe and Africa (and cricket)--and the international role of the socialists and communists--is limited.

Du Bois was allied with the US Communist Party, and James with various Trotskyist groups. This political split (often pegged as "Stalinists" vs. "Trotskyists") is usually treated in a simplistic fashion, as devoid of historical content as "Game of Thrones." Author Paul Buhle avoids this, but is his sometimes pessimistic interpretation of the US left accurate?

If you want to study Marxism in the US, and you want to start in the present, I'd recommend following Black Agenda Report and the writer Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. If you want to study Hegel and Marxist philosophy from an anti-racist perspective, I'd recommend classes with Prof. Russell Dale (currently teaching at The People's Forum in NYC).

I look forward to re-reading this book after I've studied more history. At that point I'll be able to write a more educated review!

[Owen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good political biography of a fascinating intellectual. Its focus is clearly on James's ideas and intellectual development. The chapters are organised by theme/chronology, and contain sustained discussions of James's texts. In all this analysis, the narrative of his life often feels almost totally forgotten. Buhle's discussion of James's ideas is interesting, though his criticisms come from the perspective of somebody very openly disenchanted with Trotskyism and more enamoured of James's later combination of autonomist and Third Worldist politics.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating account of his life.

[Kerr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book outlining all his major thoughts

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are few people of the last century who merit the label polymath intellectual activist more than C L R James - he was a Marxist dissident who sparred with Trotsky, lover of cricket, historian, fan of Thackeray, literary critic and journalist whose life (1901-1989) spanned the great events of war and revolution. There are few who, to my mind, can do justice to James's the polymath, but the unclassifiable socialist Paul Buhle is one of them - not only because of his longtime collaboration with James as well as his critial engagement with both James and their mutual contexts as well as his grasp of Caribbean and Marxist politics. As a result this is an excellent intellectual biography of James that even James found 'successful' (according to the blurb). To my mind, few writers other than Buhle have been able to grapple with James's diversity. This is simply superb (and annoyingly out of print).

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to C.L.R. James' political life and works. I really enjoyed reading the passages from C.L.R.'S unpublished memoirs. I wish more of that could've been included in the book. Overall, it is a short biography with strong political analysis of C.L.R.'s involvement in different political movements and a sharp historical perspective on the political struggles of those times.

A good book for those that are new to C.L.R. James.

An in-depth, comprehensive biography remains to be written.

C.L.R. James' great contributions as a historian, novelist, literary critic, sports writer, political theorist, and revolutionary merit such a biography.