v· Peter Kropotkin on the subject of mutual aid, written while he was living in exile in England. It was first published by William Heinemann in London in October 1902. The individual chapters had originally been published in 1890-96 as a series of essays in the British monthly literary magazine, Nineteenth Century.
Written partly in response to Social Darwinism and in particular to Thomas H. Huxley's Nineteenth Century essay, "The Struggle for Existence", Kropotkin's book drew on his experiences in scientific expeditions in Siberia to illustrate the phenomenon of cooperation. After examining the evidence of cooperation in nonhuman animals, pre-feudal societies, in medieval cities, and in modern times, he concludes that cooperation and mutual aid are the most important factors in the evolution of the species and the ability to survive.
Daniel P. Todes, in his account of Russian naturalism in the 19th century, concludes that Kropotkin’s work "cannot be dismissed as the idiosyncratic product of an anarchist dabbling in biology" and that his views "were but one expression of a broad current in Russian evolutionary thought that pre-dated, indeed encouraged, his work on the subject and was no means confined to leftist thinkers."[1]
Kropotkin pointed out the distinction between the direct struggle among individuals for limited resources (generally called competition) and the more metaphorical struggle between organisms and the environment (tending to be cooperative). He therefore did not deny the competitive form of struggle, but argued that the cooperative counterpart has been underemphasized: "There is an immense amount of warfare and extermination going on amidst various species; there is, at the same time, as much, or perhaps even more, of mutual support, mutual aid, and mutual defense...Sociability is as much a law of nature as mutual struggle" Cited from Mutual Aid by [2]. However, Kropotkin did consider cooperation as a feature of the most advanced organisms (e.g., ants among insects, mammals among vertebrates) leading to the development of the highest intelligence and bodily organization.
Mutual aid — may refer to: Mutual aid (organization), a tenet of organization theories. Mutual aid (emergency services), an agreement between emergency responders. Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution, a biology book by anarchist Peter Kropotkin Mutual aid, in… … Wikipedia
Mutual aid (organization theory) — See also: Mutual aid A Freebox in Berlin, Germany 2005, serving as a distribution center for free donated materials Mutual aid is a term in organization theory used to signify a voluntary reciprocal exchange of resources and services for mutual… … Wikipedia
Co-operation (evolution) — Co operation or co operative behaviours are terms used to describe behaviours by organisms which are beneficial to other organisms, and are selected for on that basis.[1] Under this definition, altruism is a form of co operation in which there is … Wikipedia
Evolution of morality — The evolution of morality refers to the emergence of human moral behavior over the course of human evolution. Morality can be defined as a system of ideas about right and wrong conduct. In everyday life, morality is typically associated with… … Wikipedia
Anarchist communism — Not to be confused with Libertarian communism or Libertarian Communism (journal) . Part of a series on Anarcho C … Wikipedia
Survival of the fittest — For other uses, see Survival of the fittest (disambiguation). Herbert Spencer coined the phrase, survival of the fittest. Survival of the fittest is a phrase which is commonly used in contexts other than intended by its first two proponents:… … Wikipedia
Social work with groups — Social Work with GroupsThe group process contains the secret of collective life, it is the key to democracy, it is the master lesson for every individual to learn, it is our chief hope for the political, the social, the international life of the… … Wikipedia
Gegenseitige Hilfe in der Tier- und Menschenwelt — Titelseite der ersten deutschen Ausgabe von 1904. Gegenseitige Hilfe in der Tier und Menschenwelt (en. Originaltitel: Mutual Aid: A factor of evolution) ist ein 1902 erschienenes Buch von Peter Kropotkin. Die Thesen herkömmlicher… … Deutsch Wikipedia
Benefit society — A benefit society or mutual aid society is an organization or voluntary association formed to provide mutual aid, benefit or insurance for relief from sundry difficulties. Such organizations may be formally organized with charters and established … Wikipedia
Mutualism (economic theory) — This article is about the economic theory. For the biological term and other uses, see Mutualism (disambiguation). Part of the Politics series on Anarchism … Wikipedia
