Mutual Aid A Factor of Evolution

by Kropotkin, Peter

• ISBN13: 9780486449135
• ISBN10: 0486449130
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-04-07
• Publisher: Dover Publications

Summary

In this literary 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.

Table of Contents

Preface to the 1914 Edition	p. vii
Introduction	p. xi
Mutual Aid Among Animals	p. 1
Struggle for existence
Mutual Aid
A law of Nature and chief factor of progressive evolution
Invertebrates
Ants and bees
Birds: Hunting and fishing associations
Sociability
Mutual protection among small birds
Cranes; parrots
Mutual Aid Among Animals (continued)	p. 26
Migrations of birds
Breeding associations
Autumn societies
Mammals: small number of unsociable species
Hunting associations of wolves, lions, etc.
Societies of rodents; of ruminants; of monkeys
Mutual Aid in the struggle for life
Darwin's arguments to prove the struggle for life within the species
Natural checks to over-multiplication
Supposed extermination of intermediate links
Elimination of competition in Nature
Mutual Aid Among Savages	p. 62
Supposed war of each against all
Tribal origin of human society
Late appearance of the separate family
Bushmen, Hottentots
Australians, Papuas
Eskimos, Aleoutes
Features of savage life difficult to understand for the European
The Dayak's conception of justice
Common law
Mutual Aid Among the Barbarians	p. 95
The great migrations
New organization rendered necessary
The village community
Communal work
Judicial procedure
Inter-tribal law
Illustrations from the life of our contemporaries
Buryates
Kabyles
Caucasian mountaineers
African stems
Mutual Aid in the Mediaeval City	p. 126
Growth of authority in Barbarian Society
Serfdom in the villages
Revolt of fortified towns: their liberation; their charts
The guild
Double origin of the free mediaeval city
Self-jurisdiction, self-administration
Honourable position of labour
Trade by the guild and by the city
Mutual Aid in the Mediaeval City (continued)	p. 154
Likeness and diversity among the mediaeval cities
The craft-guilds: State-attributes in each of them
Attitude of the city towards the peasants; attempts to free them
The lords
Results achieved by the mediaeval city: in arts, in learning
Causes of decay
Mutual Aid Amongst Ourselves	p. 184
Popular revolts at the beginning of the State-period
Mutual Aid institutions of the present time
The village community: its struggles for resisting its abolition by the State
Habits derived from the village-community life, retained in our modern villages
Switzerland, France, Germany, Russia
Mutual Aid Amongst Ourselves (continued)	p. 216
Labour-unions grown after the destruction of the guilds by the State
Their struggles
Mutual Aid in strikes
Co-operation
Free associations for various purposes
Self-sacrifice
Countless societies for combined action under all possible aspects
Mutual Aid in slum-life
Personal aid
Conclusion	p. 242
Appendix A
Swarms of Butterflies, Dragon-flies, etc.	p. 248
The Ants	p. 249
Nesting Associations	p. 250
Sociability of Animals	p. 251
Checks to Over-Multiplication	p. 252
Adaptations to Avoid Competition	p. 254
The Origin of the Family	p. 256
Destruction of Private Property on the Grave	p. 261
The "Undivided Family"	p. 261
The Origin of the Guilds	p. 262
The Market and the Mediaeval City	p. 265
Mutual-Aid Arrangements in the Villages of Netherlands at the Present Day	p. 266
The Struggle for Existence in Human Society by Thomas H. Huxley	p. 268
Index	p. 289
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