The best book I’ve read on digital activism, and the best book I’ve read in 2015.
Parker focuses on heart wrenching stories that take place in China, Russia, and Cuba, and details in an unparalleled way the human element of online activists. I don’t know how else to put it, but Parker gets it. She the understands the cultural context in which activism is taking place, and does a good job in explaining how activism leads to non-uniform results that are heavily dependant on the personalities of the members involved and constraints of the societies in which they live.
Having worked at the State Department on human rights and now working at Facebook, I am constantly frustrated with little errors or lazy narratives in documentaries, news, and books on digital activism outside the US. Comrades does not suffer from these problems. I don’t know enough about Russia and Cuba to cross check, but her account of activism in China puts books like Age of Ambition, China Airborne, or No Place to Hide to shame.
What is additionally impressive as that Parker relies on a massive body of original research, taking the time to understand the stories of activists that have not learned how to capture the spotlight of western media.
If you want to understand how technology is affecting activism, read this book. If you want to understand how technology is affecting Chinese society, read this book. It’s not just better than other books on similar subjects, it’s the only one I’ve found that goes into sufficient depth to get beyond CNN tropes.
I finished the book enlightened but worried. There is a lot at stake, and even more to do.