A pioneering treatise on embracing cooperation and reciprocity to usher in a greener and more inclusive world, from the major anarchist thinker
A Penguin ClassicWelcome 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 savior 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.
A 1902 collection of essays by Russian naturalist and anarchist philosopher Peter Kropotkin. Originally published in "The Nineteenth Century" from 1890 to 1896, the essays examine mutually-beneficial cooperation and reciprocity in both animal and human societies.
