Mutual support is one of the factors of advancement

Author's name: Peter Kropotkin Publisher: National Center for Translation Year of publication: 2026 Literary classification: Political sciences Book overview: The world is not based solely on conflict.. Or is cooperation the secret of true survival? This book is considered the most prominent intellectual work of the Russian philosopher and anarchist thinker Peter Kropotkin (1842–1922), where he presents his bold scientific thesis that aimed to correct the narrow understanding of the theory of evolution, especially the concept of "survival of the fittest" popularized by some Darwin scholars. Kropotkin does not merely review or criticize but goes to the heart of the idea to turn it upside down, emphasizing that cooperation and mutual aid are not marginal phenomena but represent the deeper and more effective driver of progress and success throughout natural and human history. Throughout the pages of the book, Kropotkin offers a rich and concise presentation of evidence supporting his thesis, starting from his precise observations of complex cooperative behaviors among different animal species in nature, where cooperation becomes a means of survival no less important than strength, passing through an analysis of the forms of participatory social organization that have prevailed in human societies across ages, and ultimately reaching practical applications in contemporary life, such as communal sharing patterns in harvesting tools, collective grazing rentals, and voluntary "aid" initiatives in building homes and schools within villages, as a living extension of the idea of human solidarity.