Claudia Jones, The Person and The Idea

Abstract

Carol Boyce Davies’ influential work Left of Karl Marx describes the life and time of Claudia Jones, a not very well known influential 20th century Marxist thinker. Through an in-depth look at the trials and tribulations Jones underwent, whether it be her time in prison or her deportation to England, Davies succeeds in capturing her essence, as well as thoroughly analysing her political development. What is left lacking in her discussion of Jones’ life, however, is Davies’ own reasoning as to why the grandmother of intersectionality was left out of the history books, both by Capitalists and Socialists alike. In this work, I use Davies’ work on Claudia Jones’ life to discern why this is the case, and how the factors which contributed to her erasure from the public consciousness were so effective in their efforts. By the end of this review, I look at how the separation of one from their ideas plays a pivotal role in their erasure, and how this occurred to Claudia Jones.