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Original Title:	Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution
ISBN:	0486449130 (ISBN13: 9780486449135)
Edition Language:	English
Characters:	Charles Darwin

Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution Paperback | Pages: 336 pages

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Title	:	Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution
Author	:	Pyotr Kropotkin
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	Anniversary Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 336 pages
Published	:	April 7th 2006 by Dover Publications (first published 1891)
Categories	:	Politics. Philosophy. Nonfiction. Science. History. Sociology

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In this cornerstone of modern liberal social theory, Peter Kropotkin states that the most effective human and animal communities are essentially cooperative, rather than competitive. Kropotkin based this classic on his observations of natural phenomena and history, forming a work of stunning and well-reasoned scholarship. Essential to the understanding of human evolution as well as social organization, it offers a powerful counterpoint to the tenets of Social Darwinism. It also cites persuasive evidence of human nature's innate compatibility with anarchist society.
"Kropotkin's basic argument is correct," noted evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould. "Struggle does occur in many modes, and some lead to cooperation among members of a species as the best pathway to advantage for individuals." Anthropologist Ashley Montagu declared that "Mutual Aid will never be any more out of date than will the Declaration of Independence. New facts may increasingly become available, but we can already see that they will serve largely to support Kropotkin's conclusion that 'in the ethical progress of man, mutual support—not mutual struggle—has had the leading part.'" Physician and author Alex Comfort asserted that "Kropotkin profoundly influenced human biology by his theory of Mutual Aid. . . . He was one of the first systematic students of animal communities, and may be regarded as the founder of modern social ecology."

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Ratings: 4.22 From 1818 Users | 115 Reviews

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The essence of this book is about how species work together for mutual benefit, despite the Darwinian argument of competition adopted by the capitalist system.Kropotkin argues that he does not find the bitter struggle for existence, among any other animal of the same species, except human beings. He points to Rouseau who saw love, peace and harmony in nature being destroyed by the ascendancy of man. Indeed he goes further by saying natural selection finds ways to avoid competition wherever

Tedious, but provides ample counterpoints to those who believe that the base form of human interaction is market-based.

As clear, relevant and powerful as the day it was written; if not more desperately needed in our present day. Mutual aid is our evolutionary heritage and ONLY path for the future. We are not meant to struggle to survive all alone but to thrive together. Paradigm shifted. ------------ "Man is no exception in nature. He is also subject to the great principle of Mutual Aid which grants the best chances of survival to those who best support each other in the struggle for life.""The craft

Taking pretty much everything that current cultural and social thought vultures around down a couple of notches, Kropotkin makes a logical, sad-because-it-was-even-necessary argument for what biologists now call mutualism. The basic idea is simple and anyone who has ever had kids or felt even a glimmer or twinge of compassion for the homeless person coveting your pocket change as you satre greasily at them through the seditious steam of your fucking latte has felt it: we progress further by

I put this on my list after finishing Pulphead, in which there was an essay about animals / the natural world collectively fighting back against humanity (especially in the light of climate change). I thought this was a fascinating concept and this book was cited as a reason for the essay, so I had to pick it up. On reading, however, I was disappointed with the content in Mutual Aid. The chapters feel repetitive and derivative, and I didn't catch much of the complicated, sentient animalian

Cheeky re-read of a personal favorite.

I'd only heard of him as an anarchist until I began to read about emotion & the beginnings of ethics in animals -- in such authors as Frans de Waal -- where he was always mentioned as a forerunner. One of those books sent me to Darwin Without Malthus: The Struggle for Existence in Russian Evolutionary Thought... which was totally interesting, as a lesson in how scientific understandings differ in different environments. Kropotkin wasn't on his own, but part of a Russian trend. I wish