Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution (Warbler Classics Annotated Edition)

“Russian social theorist Peter Kropotkin...argued that voluntary cooperation has been key to the flourishing of human civilization.”—The New York Times“Kropotkin did not deny the competitive form of struggle, but argued that the cooperative style had been underemphasized and must balance or even predominate over competition in considering nature as a whole.”—Stephen Jay GouldKropotkin’s Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution represents one of the major contributions to twentieth-century political thought. A classic, though often misunderstood text of anarchist thinking, the book offers an exciting and viable alternative to our current political models. Kropotkin’s idea of mutual aid is the radical practice of caring for each other while actively working to change the world. This new and authoritative edition of Kropotkin’s important and unique contribution to the history of socialist ideas and anarchist ideology includes a critically informed afterword by Ruth Kinna that elucidates the book’s relevance for today.Peter Kropotkin (1842–1921) was a Russian-born geographer, revolutionary, and the foremost theorist of the anarchist movement. Among his many influential publications, The Conquest of Bread (1892) and Mutual Aid (1902) have indelibly shaped anarchist thought and inspired political activists for more than a century.Ruth Kinna is Professor of Political Theory at Loughborough University in Great Britain, home of the Anarchism Research Group and the journal Anarchist Studies. She holds a B.A. in History and Politics from Queen Mary University of London, and a D.Phil. from Oxford University. Among other books, she has published Anarchism: A Beginner’s Guide (2005), The Government of No One: The Theory and Practice of Anarchism (2019), Great Anarchists (2020), and edited Cultures of Violence (2020). Read more