Stanley Brehaut Ryerson - Views On Ryerson

Views On Ryerson

The general criticism of Ryerson is that his work continually failed to transcend the CPC’s ideological passivity when it came to their relationship with Moscow. Kealey sees these arguments as being based upon a belief that Ryerson’s understanding of Marxism was severely limited by the many Stalinist distortions people generally see in Soviet philosophy disseminated during Ryerson’s time in the CPC. It is true, that party work affected his intellectual work; his choice of material was in many respects dictated by the political atmosphere of the day. But, this does not mean he substituted party beliefs for his own in every respect. Ryerson was a dedicated Communist, who saw within the CPC the best vehicle for advancing the cause of Communism and the betterment of the working-class. His decision to follow the general line, and in some instances deny his true beliefs, is unfortunate but should not be viewed from outside of their historical realities. During the era of the Popular Front, Ryerson wrote in a manner that befell that era and during the time of the Democratic Front he stridently put forth arguments seeking the destruction of Fascism as it was, in his eyes, the best way forward for the working-class. The removal of Ryerson from his intellectual and historical “context denies him recognition as the major pioneer of Marxist historical writing in Canada;” and it also denies the very nature of Ryerson and his role in Canadian society.

As a Party intellectual, he was in the minority when compared to other communist parties in the world; but, his dedication to a Marxist analysis of History and Canadian society was unsurpassed within the CPC. His early education was founded on the study of literature, but his time in Paris in the early 1930s would forever change his life and transform him into an Organic Intellectual of the working-class. His rationale for delving into historical and political writing can be found within the pages of Open Society. In reading 1837, French Canada, The Founding of Canada, and Unequal Union, we, the reader, find Ryerson’s journey to "dispel the fog of false consciousness". At the very heart of his writings, are the class struggle and the raising of class consciousness through the written word.