Stanley Brehaut Ryerson - Analysis of Nation and Class

Analysis of Nation and Class

Ryerson showed how the concepts of “nation” and “class”, as used by Marxist historians, can aide in an understanding of Canadian problems. He did not attempt to place Canadian history into a preconceived framework of ideas. Instead, he sought to bring the role of ‘class’ and ‘nation’, and persons and personalities, into the forefront of discussion instead of allowing them “to disappear behind a cloud of economic factors.” For Ryerson, the complexities and contradictions of Canadian history can be best analysed through the lens of class conflict rather than idealistic theses of most bourgeois historians. Throughout these two volumes, Ryerson emphasised the state of subjugation inherent within both French and English colonial administrators. This two volume work, Ryerson explained modestly, was intended as “a preliminary breaking of ground, suggesting a line of approach to a re-interpretation of this country’s history”. These volumes are more scholarly in style and documentation, as they were “addressed less to a working-class readership and more to academic historians and other well-informed readers.”

The notion of Freedom has been of paramount concern for Ryerson, whether it is the freedom of French Canadians or the freedom of the working class in general, Ryerson has consistently built his arguments around the notion of freedom. In his philosophical work, The Open Society: Paradox and Challenge, published in 1965 outside of the CPC’s press, Ryerson discussed his vision of an open and free society. The crux of his argument is found in the issue of freedom; he saw the past as “an evolution of people in society, marked by harsh conflict of contending classes and national forces, generating a progression toward greater freedom.” The driving force behind all of society is the nature of class existence and each struggle the oppressed class wages brings it closer to freedom. According to Ryerson, and many other Marxist thinkers, the ability to breakthrough to a more open society will come about from the “dispelling of the fog of false consciousness, gaining for ourselves a true recognition of the real nature of the existing social structure.”