Communism as a Mode of Life

This paper is based on a talk I delivered at Rethinking Marxism's 2013 international conference in conversation with Jodi Dean at a plenary session entitled "Crafting a Conversation on Communism." I attempt to clear up a point of confusion in Dean's reading of postcapitalist politics and the work of the Community Economies Collective (of which I am a member) in order to arrive at a point we share in common: the immanent relevance of communism to contemporary politics, as evidenced by Occupy and other events. While Dean reads the Occupy experience as a demonstration of the need to return to the party as an organizational form, I explore the potential of activist research and the solidarity economy for demonstrating communism as a practical, sensible reality in a growing number of communities. These emergent communisms grow in visibility as we develop other ways of representing and valuing communal life as we live it.