The Dystopian Documents Queer & Gender Activists Are Reading
The inaugural reading list for the Counter-Revolutionary Book Club
The Counter-Revolutionary Book Club is a defiantly anti-communist series dedicated to dissecting and analyzing the far left's most audacious texts and ideas. Explore a curated collection of documents and podcasts in the Book Club section—where intellectual resistance begins.
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What’s Worse Than 1984?
Welcome to a deep dive into the most dystopian texts you’ll ever encounter—except these aren’t science fiction. They’re straight out of real life.
From queer Marxism to gender abolition, these radical ideologies don’t just challenge societal norms—they aim to dismantle them entirely, sowing chaos under the guise of liberation. And they’re being championed by real far-left activists shaping today’s cultural landscape.
Below, you’ll find a curated list of some of the most influential modern texts driving queer and gender activism—materials studied and embraced by the same non-binary activists you see making waves in the world today.
We’re going to tackle these ideas head-on with my new Counter-Revolutionary Book Club. Through a series of podcasts, I’ll be reading and analyzing each of these texts (even revisiting some previously explored in the Inner Circle podcast!). I’ll also create opportunities for you to join the discussion, because intellectual resistance thrives in community.
Get a head start on your reading list here—but fair warning: If you’re new to queer Marxism or unfamiliar with decoding leftist language, these texts may feel like an alien language. That’s where I come in. I’ll guide you through them bit by bit, breaking down the jargon to make these ideologies digestible—and exposing their deeper implications.
Let’s read, decode, and resist—together.
Here are the key themes in these essays and manifestos:
Gender Abolition: Calls to eliminate gender as a system of control and oppression.
Queer Liberation: Queer identities as revolutionary, resisting societal norms.
Anti-Assimilation: Rejecting normalization within capitalist or heteronormative systems.
Intersectionality: Connecting struggles across gender, race, class, and colonialism.
Deconstruction of Norms: Challenging binaries and societal norms around identity and relationships.
Polyamory and Non-Monogamy: Polyamory as a challenge to capitalist and patriarchal systems.
Anti-Capitalism: Critiques of capitalism’s commodification of relationships and identities.
Revolutionary Action: Advocating direct action against patriarchy and heteronormativity.
Decolonization: Addressing colonialism’s impact on gender and queer politics.
Body Autonomy: Rejecting biological determinism and fixed identities.
Anarchism as a Framework: Using anarchism to challenge hierarchies of gender and sexuality.
Critique of Identity Politics: Questioning identity politics and promoting systemic critiques.
Militancy and Resistance: Encouraging radical resistance to oppressive systems.
Toward the Queerest Insurrection by Mary Nardini Gang (2014)
Description: Explores queer identity as a rejection of societal norms, advocating for an insurrection against the regime of the Normal.
Cliff Notes: Calls for dismantling societal structures that enforce conformity, particularly around gender and sexuality. Frames "queer" as inherently revolutionary, rejecting assimilation into mainstream culture.
Polyamory and Queer Anarchism: Infinite Possibilities for Resistance by Susan Song (2012)
Description: Explores the intersections of polyamory and queer anarchism, challenging traditional relationship structures.
Cliff Notes: Proposes polyamory as a political act against capitalism’s commodification of relationships. Highlights how polyamory and anarchism share a rejection of hierarchical structures.
Against the Gendered Nightmare by Baedan (2014)
Description: Examines gender as a tool of domestication and civilization, advocating for its total abolition.
Cliff Notes: Frames gender as an oppressive system rooted in control and power. Argues for dismantling not just traditional gender roles but the entire concept of gender as a construct.
The Gender Accelerationist Manifesto by Vikky Storm and Eme Flores (2019)
Description: Explores the origins of gender and proposes a revolutionary accelerationist approach to gender abolition.
Cliff Notes: Uses accelerationist theory to suggest that dismantling gender requires intensifying the contradictions within patriarchal and binary systems. Advocates for a future free of gender norms.
Queering Anarchism by C. B. Daring, J. Rogue, Deric Shannon, and Abbey Volcano (2012)
Description: Addresses myths about anarchism and explores the complexities of queer theory within anarchist practice.
Cliff Notes: Bridges anarchism and queer theory, arguing both reject fixed categories and hierarchical systems. Provides practical insights for queer resistance in anarchist movements.
Gender Nihilism: An Anti-Manifesto by Alyson Escalante (2015)
Description: A critical examination of gender as a social construct, advocating for its complete abolition.
Cliff Notes: Escalante argues that gender is an oppressive system that enforces conformity and perpetuates violence against those who deviate from its norms. The essay promotes 'gender nihilism,' which rejects all gender categories and identities, calling for the dismantling of the entire concept of gender to achieve true liberation.
Beyond Negativity: What Comes After Gender Nihilism? by Alyson Escalante (2017)
Description: An exploration of the steps following the rejection of gender, focusing on building a materialist approach to dismantling patriarchy.
Cliff Notes: Escalante reflects on the limitations of gender nihilism, emphasizing the need to understand the material conditions that give rise to gendered oppression. The essay advocates for a proactive struggle against patriarchy, moving beyond mere negation towards constructing a society free from gender-based hierarchies.
Arming Negativity: Towards the Queerest Attack by Flower Bomb (2019)
Description: Focuses on a position of pure negation against societal assimilation, rooted in queer anarchist thought.
Cliff Notes: Calls for rejecting assimilation into capitalist and heteronormative systems. Advocates for anarchist methods rooted in refusal and resistance rather than reform.
My Preferred Gender Pronoun is Negation by Bash Back! (2009)
Description: An irreverent critique of identity politics, advocating for rejecting societal classifications entirely.
Cliff Notes: Critiques the reliance on labels and identity politics, emphasizing liberation through the rejection of all societal norms and categorizations.
Queer Anarcho Communism by Anonymous (2024)
Description: Explores the intersections of queer identity and anarcho-communist principles.
Cliff Notes: Highlights how queer liberation and anarcho-communism both oppose capitalism and hierarchy. Suggests that combining these ideologies strengthens resistance movements.
Queer Identity Politics and the Colonial Character by Juan Lee (2023)
Description: Critiques the colonial underpinnings of queer identity politics, advocating for decolonized approaches to gender and sexuality.
Cliff Notes: Analyzes how Western queer identity frameworks reinforce colonialism. Argues for decolonizing queer activism to include indigenous and global perspectives.
Queer Ultra Violence by Various Authors (2011)
Description: A radical collection of writings focused on queer identity and resistance.
Cliff Notes: Emphasizes the need for militant and unapologetic queer activism. Advocates for direct action against oppressive systems.
Gender and Classes by The Incendo Crew (2012)
Description: Analyzes the intersections of gender and class, advocating for an anarchist approach to gender liberation.
Cliff Notes: Discusses how class systems perpetuate gender oppression. Suggests that addressing gender hierarchies is crucial for broader class struggle.
Against Biology, Against the Sexed Body by Saewol: a journal of queer becomings (2018)
Description: Critiques the biological basis of gender and proposes its eradication as a form of liberation.
Cliff Notes: Challenges biological determinism and essentialist views of gender. Advocates for dismantling systems that tie identity to the body.
Gender and Sexuality by Lucy Nicholas (2019)
Description: Analyzes hierarchical components of gender and sexuality, emphasizing anarchist organizing principles.
Cliff Notes: Explores how gender hierarchies reinforce power structures. Suggests anarchist approaches to dismantling these hierarchies through non-hierarchical organizing.
Queer – An Anarchist Deconstruction by Anarchist Federation (2009)
Description: Analyzes 'queer' from an anarchist perspective, deconstructing traditional gender and sexual identities.
Cliff Notes: Discusses queer as an inherently anarchist concept, rejecting fixed identities. Emphasizes fluidity and opposition to all forms of oppression.
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