When people say "comrade", they change the world

In the twentieth-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. Comrades are equals on the same side of a political struggle. Voluntarily coming together in the struggle for justice, their relationship is characterised 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, C.L.R James, Alexandra Kollontai, and Doris Lessing. She argues that if we are to be a left at all, we have to be comrades.

"For Jodi Dean, the word "comrade" is by no means a simple descriptor, nor is it some dusty relic of the bygone days of actually-existing state socialism." - Chronicle of Higher Education

"One of the most innovative and imaginative political theorists on the contemporary scene." - The Nation

"A welcome effort to recover the concept of a comrade. By calling attention to the expectations and practices of solidarity among those who share a commitment to emancipatory struggle, Dean's account represents an advance over the much looser conception of allies, those whose alliance may prove to be quite transitory with corresponding fluctuations in organizational structures." - Marx and Philosophy

"The great strength of this book lies in Dean's ability to not only powerfully critique the individualisation of political subjectivity - characteristic of her other recent works, like Crowds and Party - but also to propose solutions." - Sydney Review of Books