A review by samdalefox
Comrade: An Essay on Political Belonging by Jodi Dean

hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

3.75

If you can wade through the waffle and uneccesarily complex language, this is a wonderfully convincing essay with well evidenced claims. I currently feel politically homeless (UK based) as none of the political parties or dominant social attitudes represent my political views. The theory of the comrade presented in this book is the sort of political belonging I have been searching for, and I would like to put this theory into action. This theory in a nutshell is:  "Comrade is a figure of political belonging, term of address, and carrier of expectations of action."  

I would certainly recommend to anyone on the left, I suspect anarchists and communists will more likely embrace the idea presented. I don't think this is a good book for politically-passive people interested in learning about or joining the left, the language is too inaccessible. The subject matter is critical though, so I'd like to see the author create a summary article or infographics set to share.

Pros
  • I love the content of the essay. I'll summarise some standout aspects here:
  • Dean describes the variance in political work, this is inspiring 
  • Dean argues for 'The Party', to create a sense of belonging and accountability to each other. This challenges ideas of hierarchy and dominance perpetuated by capitlaism.
  • Dean has an interesting critique of Allyship, I enjoyed most of it, only disagreed with a couple of points
  • Dean focuses on communicative capitalism (the author's own coining) 
  • Interesting illustation and commentary of 'the comrade' using 'Prochies' from Platanov's Chevengur. 
  • I greatly enjoyed the commentary on discipline and organisation
  • Dean gave good insights into the factionalism and apathy within the left (pages 100-101 were poignant)
  • Dean highlights the importance of unifying theory and practice 
  • I loved the natural queer theory inclusion of 'the comrade'. The term is distinct from citizen (state relationship) or familial terms (blood and inheritance relationships). Comradery can provide intimacy in a different way.
  •  I particularly enjoyed the chapter on comrades' four primary characteristics: discipline, joy, enthusiasm, and courage. 
  • A difficult, but ultimately incredibly important, explanation of why comrade can and must be based on sameness and equality (not on equity, as focussed on in most intersectional feminist politics). This was difficult for me to understand at first, but ultimately I was convinced by the argument. The historical examples given from the CPUSA on their approach to anti-racism was what swung it for me. I would gladly join a party with such a clear and strong stance on anti-racist action in practice. 

Cons
  • Inacessible language and analyses to anyone not well-read in leftist literature. Even a glossary of terms would greatly help widen this up to people. e.g., most people don't understand the difference between democratic socialist and communist and most aren't well read in the Russian revolution factions beyond the Bolsheviks. 
  • Even for those well read, the style is unecessarily academic in my opinion. I was finding myself getting bored and having to re-read a sentence or paragraph a few times. For a short book, it felt long. Usually, the same information was summarised more clearly only a page or so afterwards. It could have benefitted from a more rutherless editor. 
  • Attempts to be global, but is largely US-centric. This is acknowledged by the author, and not necessarily a probem. I would just like to see wider inclusion. There are many examples of 'the comrade' in the global south, and I don't see global north authors discussing them. This is disappointing and missing an opportunity to build global solidarity. 

How to say comrade in other languages:
German - Genosse
Russian - Tovarish
Chinese - Tongzhi
Spanish - Camerata

Quotes

"Ally appears to designate a limit, suggesting that you will never be one of us, than it does to enable solidarity". (Solidarity that is required for a revolutionary left to succeed) - parantheses my own

"We need to learn, or relearn, how to build comradeship and solidarity instead of doing capital's work for it by condemning and abusing each other" - Mark Fisher

"Comrade does not eliminate difference. It provides a container indifferent to its contents".

 "Comrades put individual identity aside as they work together for justice. Collective desire replaces the fiction that desire can be individual... this doesn't mean that comrades don't recognize how ascribed identities are vehicles for oppesions and discrimination... rather comradeship is a politcal relation not determined or beholden to these identities."

"Comrade entails taking a side, rather than refusing to acknowledge and avow the existence of sides".

"[The term] Comrades let one forget the status that the world gives them - birth, family, name, class."

"Comradeship is a necessary condition for communism: the collective of those who enjoy each other refuse to let property take their place."

"Comrade designates a relation, not an individual identity". 

"Comrades are not simply those who believe in a truth - for example as in, for example the idea of communism. Their fidelity to a certain truth is manifested in practical work"

"Anyone can be a comrade, but not everyone. And, there is a space of non-belonging. That you are not my comrade does not mean that you are  necessarily my enemy. You may be a bystander, comeone politically disengaged, an ally with interests of your own that temporarily overlap with mine, someone who might later come to be a comrade."

"Comrades are multiple, replaceable, fungible. They are elements in collectives, even collections."

"The working class demonstrates through proletarian discipline, that capitalists and landlords are superfluous. We don't need them."

"Revolutionary discipline depends on political conciousness - on an understanding of why order must be obeyed" - George Orwell

"Comradely courage includes the capacity for self criticism, the capacity to admit to being wrong or not knowing and then correct any errors through further study and work."