The Dangerous Class and the Rise of Trumpism: A Lecture by Clyde Barrow
Introduction to the Study Groups in Psychoanalysis and Politics
Daniel Chad introduces the session, hosted in partnership with Cosmonaut magazine, featuring scholar Clyde Barrow. The group, known as the Study Groups in Psychoanalysis and Politics, formed in the spring of as a pandemic-era institution bringing together students and professors to examine theoretical problems. The impetus for the current discussion on the lumpen proletariat, bonapartism, and trumpism originated prior to the January insurrection, following a philosophical inquiry by Simmo Tomshik regarding revolutionary agency in the century. Specifically, the inquiry explored whether agency remains lumpen-centered, as proposed by Frantz Fanon, anti-colonial struggles, and the Black Panthers, or if the Marxist dismissal of the lumpen proletariat as a reactionary force holds true today. Chad highlights Clyde Barrow’s latest book, The Dangerous Class: On the Concept of the Lumpen Proletariat, which provides a total reappraisal of the category from the time of Marx and Engels to the present day, including post-Marxists and the rise of the "lumpen state."
Clyde Barrow prefaces his lecture by referencing his work The Entrepreneurial Intellectual in a Corporate University, an autobiographical text about the state of academia. He notes that the study of the lumpen proletariat has been a lifelong interest, sparked by the specific passage in the Communist Manifesto describing the "dangerous class." Using a word-searchable PDF of Marx and Engels’ collected works, Barrow identified distinct usages of the term across volumes, nearly triple the count of previous scholars in the s. He argues that the concept is central to the logic of Das Kapital, particularly Chapter on the general law of capitalist accumulation, and serves as a bridge between Marxism and post-Marxism. Barrow identifies a hidden logic in Marx pointing toward the extended reproduction of the lumpen proletariat rather than the proletariat in post-industrial capitalism. The inspiration for the current application of the theory came from watching a televised Trump rally and seeing the New York Post portray Donald Trump as the "clown who would be king," mirroring Marx’s description of Louis Bonaparte III in the 18^{th} Brumaire.
The Bonaparte-Trump Parallel: Tragedy and Farce
Barrow observes that the term "lumpen proletariat" first appeared in The German Ideology as a neologism to critique Max Stirner’s egoistic anarchism. In the Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels describe this group as the "social scum," a "passively rotting mass" resulting from the lowest layers of old society. While initially dismissed as a bribe tool of reactionary intrigue, the lumpen proletariat becomes a decisive political actor in The 18^{th} Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. Marx explains how Louis Bonaparte, as the "chief of the lumpen proletariat," used the "refuse of all classes" to base his power unconditionally. Barrow draws a direct line between Marx’s "serious buffoon" description of Bonaparte and modern media portrayals of Donald Trump as a "clown king" or a "white minstrel show." Following Hegel's remark that history repeats itself—first as tragedy, then as farce—Barrow posits that Trump followed the specific script of bonapartism, requiring a class analysis beyond individualistic psychologistic explanations like "pathological narcissism."
The Finance Aristocracy and Parasitic Non-Classes
Marcus identifies fractions of the bourgeoisie in the 18^{th} Brumaire, noting that the finance aristocracy is often indifferent to the interests of the capitalist class as a whole. Barrow describes the finance aristocracy as a parasitic class that pursues money through gambling, asset theft, and fraudulent loans rather than production. Marx famously stated that the finance aristocracy on the heights of bourgeois society is the "rebirth of the lumpen proletariat." Both categories share a non-relation to production. In the context of Trumpism, finance capital acts as the main economic beneficiary, looting the treasury while the "clown show" of the administration distracts the public. This alliance between the parasitic high (finance) and low (lumpen) elements is the structural core of the bonapartist state.
Collective Classes and the Mass Base of Trumpism
Barrow distinguishes between the electoral base and the mass base of bonapartism. Louis Bonaparte was elected by the rural peasantry and urban petite bourgeoisie, who were nostalgic for an old form of capitalism based on small production and low taxes. Similarly, Trump mobilized small-town and rural voters who feared both socialism and big capital. However, Bonaparte’s ability to stay in power and execute a coup was dependent on the lumpen proletariat organized as the "Mobile Guard" and the "Society of the of December." In the United States, Barrow suggests that populations displaced by de-industrialization are absorbed into paramilitary-capable police forces (ICE, CBP, and HSI) through an "economic draft." These organizations, along with "bikers for Trump" and armed right-wing militias like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, represent the modern "Decemberists." These groups operate outside the electoral system to intimidate protesters and, as seen on January , attempt to certification processes.
The Rise of the Right-Wing Lumpen Insurrection
Barrow details a pattern of right-wing militancy that surges under Democratic presidencies. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) currently tracks hate groups, including white nationalists, Christian identity groups, and neo-volkisch "kindred" groups. As of , formal membership in militia groups was estimated at , equivalent to six infantry divisions. Barrow points to the Oregon Senate walkout, the Michigan Capitol rally, and the plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer as "test runs" for the January insurrection. These actors are not amateur gun clubs; they are often disciplined, well-trained veterans who understand military tactics. Trump successfully legitimated these groups, transitioning from the "chief" to the "emperor" of the lumpen proletariat.
Analytic Categorization: The Lumpen Proletariat as a Social Category
Barrow argues against the dismissal of the lumpen proletariat as a vague epithet. He defines it analytically as a "social category" or a "non-class" defined by its non-relation to production. Unlike a permanent "underclass," the lumpen proletariat is a fluid category comprising diverse elements: the ruined proletariat (injured, chronically ill, or displaced by technology), bankrupt petite bourgeoisie, and discharged combat veterans. Marx identifies the "lowest sediment" of society as the "lumpen proletariat properly speaking." Barrow notes a middle category of the "honest" or "working" lumpen proletariat who have tenuous, seasonal, or irregular relations to production. Because this category lacks structural cohesion, it must be organized from the outside. Historically, this organization has been performed by the counter-revolutionary bourgeoisie, though Fanon and the Black Panthers argued that intellectuals could organize the lumpen in the service of socialist revolution.
Post-Industrialism and the Logic of Lumpenization
Trump is characterized as the effect, not the cause, of neoliberal developments since the s. De-industrialization has created a burgeoning white lumpen proletariat in terminal decay cities like Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, or fall river, Massachusetts. Barrow highlights a logic within Das Kapital where the relative surplus population grows as industrial capitalism declines. In the absence of a socialist revolution, the proletariat and petite bourgeoisie are slowly replaced by a lumpen mass. This "lumpenization of humanity," a phrase from Eldridge Cleaver, suggests that removing Trump from office does not reverse the economic logic that produced his supporters. The failure of the coup on January merely provides these groups with the persistent grievance needed to continue a long-term insurrection against an "illegitimate" state.
Questions & Discussion
Daniel Chad: Chad asks about the influence of "post-marxism" and whether the lumpen proletariat is still an agent of historical revolution. He specifically questions if Black Lives Matter (BLM) could be construed as a lumpen-directed movement and asks about the left-right lumpen dynamic. Clyde Barrow: Barrow explains that post-marxism (Negri, Gorz, Habermas) stems from the Grundrisse. He cites Eldridge Cleaver who saw black Americans as already de-industrialized/lumpenized and argued they were the vanguard because white workers would eventually follow. Barrow suggests that while BLM has lineages in the Black Panther movement, it is a wide umbrella. He notes that if society provides universal basic income and healthcare, it essentially produces a state-subsidized lumpen proletariat. He cautions that simply redistributing income is "corporate liberal" unless the "machines" (means of production) are also redistributed. He acknowledges that spontaneous lumpen action usually attacks the means of consumption (looting), which does not structurally threaten capital.
Alexander: Alexander asks about the difference between the de-ruralized lumpen of the century and the de-industrialized lumpen of today. Clyde Barrow: Barrow notes that Fanon liked the de-ruralized lumpen because they maintained ties to the countryside and national values. Today’s lumpen are often the "cast-offs" of decaying industrial society. He cites census data showing that in some former factory towns, over of income comes from transfer payments, indicating they are no longer a "working class" but a "former working class" that has been lumpen-proletarianized.
Donald: Donald asks if the lumpenization of black Americans through state policy allows for progressive revolt, while white lumpenization tends toward reactionary resentment. He also asks why liberals offer no alternative beyond "retraining." Clyde Barrow: Barrow agrees that liberals (from Clinton to Obama to Biden) have ignored the working class, offering only college or "coding" to -year-old coal miners. This lack of alternative allowed Trump to win with nostalgic appeals. He clarifies that Trump benefited finance capital while ignoring the infrastructure needs of his base.
Ian: Ian asks if the term "lumpen" is overused in cases where we are simply describing the proletariat (those dependent on a wage). Clyde Barrow: Barrow notes that neoconservatives use the word "underclass" to psychologize and individualize failure. He emphasizes that the proletariat as a stable, -hour-a-week class only existed from roughly to . Outside that window, the condition of the average worker has always looked more like that of the lumpen proletariat.
Kade: Kade asks about the extension of lumpenization to social media where people become products/data rather than laborers. Clyde Barrow: Barrow references William J. Ghent’s Benevolent Feudalism (), which predicted an industrial feudalism where people depend on ruling-class handouts. He suggests this "quasi-feudal" existence is the modern form of lumpenization.
Chris Santo: Santo asks about the term "lumpen" as untranslated German and how it applies to countries like Brazil with "aborted" industrial development. Clyde Barrow: Barrow explains that "lumpen" has a double meaning: "rags" and "knave." He agrees that in non-Western countries, the differentiation between the proletariat and lumpen proletariat erodes quickly, making the category even more relevant for those social formations.
Matthew: Matthew asks if a mass communist party can still be built if the proletariat is being lumpenized and if we should "de-lumpenize" the population. Clyde Barrow: Barrow argues that the problem of agency remains the same; it always requires intellectuals to organize the class. He questions the goal of "de-lumpenization," suggesting that people like Andre Gorz and Paul Lafargue (the right to be lazy) argued for a society where we work less and essentially become "happy lumpens" with high wages and more autonomy.
Final Comments on the Lumpen State: Barrow concludes by defining the "lumpen state" as a parasitic body that fails to provide the basic inputs required for the extended reproduction of capitalism (education, health, infrastructure). This makes the bonapartist/trumpist state an unsustainable, "exceptional" state. He ends with a quote from Trotsky summarizing the class dynamics of fascism and bonapartism as an alliance between the petite bourgeoisie and the lumpen "cavalry."
Clyde Barrow's lecture, part of the Study Groups in Psychoanalysis and Politics, explores the concept of the lumpen proletariat in contemporary politics, particularly in relation to figures like Donald Trump and historical parallels with Louis Bonaparte. Barrow presents the lumpen proletariat as a social category defined by its non-relation to production, emphasizing its complex role in political dynamics and as a vehicle for populism. He draws connections between right-wing militancy and the socio-economic conditions that give rise to such movements, elaborating on how historical trends of lumpenization and finance aristocracy influence modern political landscapes. The lecture raises critical questions about agency and representation within the lumpen class, while challenging simplistic interpretations of political phenomena, ultimately aiming to redefine the lumpen proletariat's place in both historical and current revolutionary contexts.