To view prices and purchase online, please login or create an account now.



Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Peter Kropotkin
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:320
Dimensions(mm): Height 198,Width 129
Category/GenreLiterary essays
Social and political philosophy
ISBN/Barcode 9780241355336
ClassificationsDewey:302.14
Audience
Tertiary Education (US: College)
Professional & Vocational
General

Publishing Details

Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Imprint Penguin Classics
NZ Release Date 7 February 2023
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

A pioneering treatise on cooperation and reciprocity, from the major anarchist thinker 'Don't compete! - competition is always injurious to the species, and you have plenty of resources to avoid it!' Welcome to the anarchist history of the world. In this lively, provocative work, Peter Kropotkin argues that 'mutual aid' is a natural instinct in all of us, animal and human. Cooperation, reciprocity, support- these, for Kropotkin, are the overlooked foundations of our history. From the earliest days of evolution through to artisanal guilds, indigenous nomads and even the Royal National Lifeboat Association, it is a pragmatic, mutually beneficial bond to our fellow humans that has allowed us to survive. In this, Kropotkin challenges all the major orthodoxies of his age, from individualism and social Darwinism to Marxist theories of the saviour state. Instead, these essays insist that a better life for all of us - and our planet - begins when we reject competition, and embrace the local, the mutual and the collective.

Author Biography

Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921) came from a major aristocratic Russian family but turned his back on it to embrace a life of imprisonment and exile in pursuit of his beliefs. His major works are The Conquest of Bread and Mutual Aid. His funeral was marked by the last permitted gathering of anarchists in the USSR.