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 The cover of the 1902 edition of Mutual Aid | |
| Author | Peter Kropotkin |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | mutual aid |
| Published | 1902 |
| Publisher | McClure Phillips & Co. |
| Part of a series on |
| Anarchist communism |
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Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution is a 1902 collection of anthropological essays by Russian naturalist and anarchist philosopher Peter Kropotkin. The essays, initially published in the English periodical The Nineteenth Century between 1890 and 1896,[1] explore the role of mutually beneficial cooperation and reciprocity (or "mutual aid") in the animal kingdom and human societies both past and present. It is an argument against theories of social Darwinism that emphasize competition and survival of the fittest, and against the romantic depictions by writers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who thought that cooperation was motivated by universal love. Instead, Kropotkin argues that mutual aid has pragmatic advantages for the survival of human and animal communities and, along with the conscience, has been promoted through natural selection.
Mutual Aid is considered a fundamental text in anarchist communism.[2] It presents a scientific basis for communism as an alternative to the historical materialism of the Marxists. Kropotkin considers the importance of mutual aid for prosperity and survival in the animal kingdom, in indigenous and early European societies, in the medieval free cities (especially through the guilds), and in the late 19th century village, labor movement, and impoverished people. He criticizes the State for destroying historically important mutual aid institutions, particularly through the imposition of private property.
Many biologists[3][4] (including Stephen Jay Gould, one of the most influential evolutionary biologists of his generation) also consider it an important catalyst in the scientific study of cooperation.[5]
- ^ Skyrms, Brian, ed. (2014), "Mutual aid", Evolution of the Social Contract (2 ed.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 43–63, ISBN 978-1-107-07728-7, retrieved 6 May 2024
- ^ Kinna, Ruth (24 November 2022). Peter Kropotkin and communist anarchism. Loughborough University. ISBN 978-1-108-48134-2.
- ^ Gould, Stephen Jay (June 1988). "Kropotkin was no crackpot". Natural History. No. 106. pp. 12–21.
- ^ Boucher, Douglas H., ed. (1985). "The Idea of Mutualism, Past and Future". The Biology of Mutualism: Ecology and Evolution. Croom Helm. p. 17. ISBN 9780709932383.
- ^ Syson, Lydia (26 October 2020). "The radical aristocrat who put kindness on a scientific footing". Psyche.