Between mass participation in two world wars and mass participation in Communist parties, in the 20th century millions of people across the globe addressed each other as ‘comrade’. Now, it’s more common to hear talk of ‘allies’ on the left than it is of comrades. In
Comrade, Jodi Dean insists that this shift exemplifies the key problem with the contemporary left: the substitution of political identity for a relation of political belonging that must be built, sustained, and defended.
In
Comrade, Dean offers a theory of the comrade as a mode of address, figure of belonging, and carrier of expectations for action. Comrades are equals on the same side of a political struggle. Voluntarily coming together in the struggle for justice, their relation is characterized by discipline, joy, courage, and enthusiasm. Considering the generic egalitarianism of the comrade in light of differences of race and gender, Dean draws from an array of historical and literary examples such as Harry Haywood, CLR James, Alexandra Kollontai, and Doris Lessing. She argues that if we are to be a Left at all, we have to be comrades.
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Jodi Dean teaches political, feminist, and media theory in Geneva, New York. She has written or edited thirteen books, including The Communist Horizon and Crowds and Party, both published by Verso.
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