Mutual Aid: An Illuminated Factor of Evolution
Description
One hundred years after his death, Peter Kropotkin is still one of the most inspirational figures of the anarchist movement. It is often forgotten that Kropotkin was also a world-renowned geographer whose seminal critique of the hypothesis of competition promoted by Social Darwinism helped revolutionize modern evolutionary theory. An admirer of Darwin, he used his observations of life in Siberia as the basis for his 1902 collection of essays Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution. Kropotkin demonstrated that mutually beneficial cooperation and reciprocity--in both individuals and as a species--plays a far more important role in the animal kingdom and human societies than does individualized competitive struggle. Kropotkin carefully crafted his theory making the science accessible. His account of nature rejected Rousseau's romantic depictions and ethical socialist ideas that cooperation was motivated by the notion of "universal love." His understanding of the dynamics of social evolution shows us that the power of cooperation--whether it is bison defending themselves against a predator or workers unionizing against their boss. His message is clear: solidarity is strength!
Every page of this new edition of Mutual Aid has been beautifully illustrated by one of anarchism's most celebrated current artists, N.O. Bonzo. The reader will also enjoy original artwork by GATS and insightful commentary by David Graeber, Ruth Kinna, Andrej Grubacic, and Allan Antliff.
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About the Author
Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921) was the foremost theorist of the anarchist movement. Born a Russian Prince, he rejected his title to become a revolutionary, seeking a society based on freedom, equality, and solidarity. Imprisoned for his activism in Russia and France, his writings include The Conquest of Bread; Fields, Factories, and Workshops; Anarchism, Anarchist-Communism, and the State; Memoirs of a Revolutionist; and Modern Science and Anarchism. New editions of his classic works Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution; Words of a Rebel; and The Great French Revolution, 1789-1793 will be published by PM Press to commemorate his life and work on the centennial of his death.
Oakland-based artist GATS (Graffiti Against the System) is an internationally renowned graffiti artist with work reaching as far as Palestine, the Philippines, and Rome. He is best known for his iconic mask imagery, the intricate insignias that fill them, and his liberatory political messaging accompanying many of his pieces.
Allan Antliff, professor, University of Victoria, is author of Anarchist Modernism: Art, Politics, and the First American Avant-Garde (University of Chicago, 2001); Anarchy and Art: From the Paris Commune to the Fall of the Berlin Wall (Arsenal Pulp, 2007); Joseph Beuys (Phaidon, 2014); and editor of Only a Beginning (Arsenal Pulp, 2004), a documentary anthology of anarchist writings and activism in Canada.
N.O. Bonzo is an anarchist illustrator, printmaker, and muralist based out of Portland, OR. They are the illustrator of Mutual Aid: An Illuminated Factor of Evolution (PM Press, Spring 2021). More of their work can be found at www.nobonzo.com.
Ruth Kinna works at Loughborough University in the UK. She is the author of Kropotkin: Reviewing the Classical Anarchist Tradition (2016) and writes on historical and contemporary anarchist politics. She is editor of the peer-review journal Anarchist Studies.
David Graeber, taught anthropology at the London School of Economics. He was the international best-selling author of Debt: The First 5,000 Years and Bullshit Jobs: A Theory. He has written for Harper's, The Nation, Mute, and the New Left Review. One of the original organizers of Occupy Wall Street, Graeber has been called an "anti-leader of the movement" by Bloomberg Businessweek. The Atlantic wrote that he "has come to represent the Occupy Wall Street message . . . expressing the group's theory, and its founding principles, in a way that truly elucidated some of the things people have questioned about it."
Andrej Grubačic is an anarchist dissident and historian who has written prolifically on anarchism and the history of the Balkans. He is founding chair of the Anthropology and Social Change department. He is the author of Don't Mourn, Balkanize! Essays after Yugoslavia and the coauthor of Wobblies and Zapatistas: Conversations on Anarchism, Marxism and Radical History.
