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Kropotkin's Theory of Mutual Aid in Historical Context*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 February 2009

Ruth Kinna
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This paper examines the relationship between science and anarchism in Kropotkin's theory of mutual aid and analyses it in the light of his concerns about the rise of social democracy and individualism. Tracing the development of the theory from the 1890s to Kropotkin's death in 1921, it affirms the centrality of mutual aid in his work but argues, contrary to existing readings, that the theory can be seen as an attempt to inspire the revival of the anarchist movement. It concludes that there is an unresolved tension in Kropotkin's work arising from the imbalance between the idea of a “natural anarchist tendency” and anarchist propaganda.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Review of Social History , Volume 40 , Issue 2 , August 1995 , pp. 259 - 283
Copyright
Copyright © Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis 1995

References

1 The main conclusions drawn from this paper are in line with Confino's, Michael and Rubinstein's, Daniel recently published findings (“Kropotkine Savant: Vingt-cinq lettres inédites de Pierre Kropotkine à Marie Goldsmith 27 juillet 1901–9 juillet 1915”, Cahiers du Monde russe et soviétique, XXXIII (1992), pp. 243–302)Google Scholarwhich was drawn to my attention after this paper was substantially completed.

2 The complete range of articles comprising the theory of mutual aid was published in The Nineteenth Century as follows: “Mutual Aid Among Animals” part 1, XXVIII (1890), pp. 337–354; “Mutual Aid Among Animals” part 2, XXVIII (1890), pp. 699–719; “Mutual Aid Among Savages”, XXIX (1891), pp. 538–559; “Mutual Aid Among the Barbarians”, XXXI (1891), pp. 101–122; “Mutual Aid in the Mediaeval City” part 1, XXXVI (1894), PP. 183–202; “Mutual Aid in the Mediaeval City' part 2, XXXVI (1894), pp. 397–418; “Mutual Aid Amongst Modern Men”, XXXIX (1896), pp. 65–86; “Mutual Aid Amongst Ourselves”, XXXIX (1896), pp. 914–936; “The Ethical Need of the Present Day”, LVI (1904), pp. 207–226; “The Morality of Nature”, LVII (1905), pp. 407–426; “The Theory of Evolution and Mutual Aid”, LXVII (1910), pp. 86–107; “The Direct Action of Environment on Plants”, LXVIII (1910), pp. 58–77; “The Response of the Animals to Their Environment” part 1, LXVIII (1910), pp. 856–866; “The Response of the Animals to Their Environment” part 2, LXVIII (1910), pp. 1046–1059; “The Inheritance of Acquired Characters: Theoretical Difficulties”, LXXI (1912), pp. 511–531; “Inherited Variation in Plants”, LXXIV (1914), pp. 816–886; “Inherited Variation in Animals”, LXXVIII (1915), pp. 1124–1144; and “The Direct Action of the Environment and Evolution”, LXXXV (1919), pp. 70–89. Hereafter, articles will be referred to by title only.

3 See Nettlau, Max, “Un Vie”, in Pierre Kropotkine L'Ami, L'Homme, L'Anarchiste (Paris, 1921), pp. 6–7Google Scholar; and Woodcock's, George introduction to The State: Its Historic Role (London, 1943), p. 4Google Scholar, and Ethics: Origin and Development, trans. Friedland, Louis S. and Piroshnikoff, Joseph R. (Montreal and New York, 1992), p. xviiGoogle Scholar. Woodcock's, views on the significance of Ethics for Kropotkin's work have changed considerably since the publication of Anarchism (Harmondsworth, 1975)Google Scholar, where he claims it is a “peripheral” work, p. 198.

4 For a recent analysis see Crowder, George, Classical Anarchism: The Political Thought of Godwin, Proudhon, Bakusnin and Kropotkin (Oxford, 1991)Google Scholar. See also my critique and following exchange in Anarchist Studies, 1 (1993), no. 1, pp. 51–59; no. 2, pp. 147–154.

5 Todes, Daniel P., “Darwin's Malthusian Metaphor and Russian Evolutionary Thought, 1859–1917”, Isis, 78 (1987), pp. 537–551CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

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7 Freedom, 146 (March–April 1900), 173 (January 1903), and 195 (January 1905).

8 Kropotkin to Alfred Marsh, 3 September 1904, 20 June 1905, International Institute for Social History [hereafter IISH], Marsh collection.

9 Bakunin, Michael, Statism and Anarchy, ed. Shatz, Marshall (Cambridge, 1990), p. 141CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

10 Justice, “Kropotkin as Mock Bourgeois Radical” (March 1904).

11 Kropotkin, , “Caesariam”. Freedom, 139 (06 1899)Google Scholar.

12 Kropotkin to Marsh, 27 May 1902, IISH, Marsh Collection.

13 Kropotkin to Georges Herzig, 3 June 1913, IISH, Herzig Collection.

14 Kropotkin to Marsh, IS October 1901, IISH, Marsh Collection.

15 Kropotkin to James Guillaumc, 23 December 1902, IISH, Nettlau Collection, 293, KVI.

16 Kropotkin, , Memoirs of a Revolutionist (London, 1978), p. 300Google Scholar.

17 Kropotkin, Glimpses into Labour Movement MS, IISH, Nettlau Collection, 290, KIV, pp. 4–5.

18 ibid., p. 9.

19 ibid., p. 10.

20 Kropotkin, , The Coming Revival of Socialism (London, 1903), pp. 10–11Google Scholar.

21 Ibid., pp. 21–22.

22 Kropotkin, Glimpses into the Labour Movement, p. 3.

23 Ibid., P. 2.

24 Kropotkin, , “Politics and Socialism”, Freedom, 176 (05 1903)Google Scholar.

25 Kropotkin to Guillaume, 23 December 1902.

26 Kropotkin to Guillaume, 5 May 1903, IISH, Nettlau Collection, 293, KVI.

27 Kropotkin, Glimpses into the Labour Movement, p. 4.

28 Kropotkin, , Freedom, 175 (04 1903)Google Scholar.

29 See, for example, Kropotkin, , The Development of Trade Unionism (Leeds, 1901)Google Scholar.

30 Kropotkin, , The Conquest of Bread (London, 1983), p. 46Google Scholar.

31 ibid., p. 47.

32 ibid., p. 174.

33 ibid., p. 179.

34 ibid., p. 108.

35 See, for example, Kropotkin, , The Place of Anarchism in Socialistic Evolution, trans. Glasse, H. (London, 1886)Google Scholar.

36 Kropotkin, The Conquest of Bread, p. 47.

37 ibid., p. 171.

38 Kropotkin to Max Nettlau, 17 February 1902, IISH, Nettlau Collection, 287, KI, “I think that communism will become quite normal (it is already in a thousand ways), and as for knowing what will be the essence of individual development, I do not think it could be along individualist lines. Individual – yes, without doubt, but individualist – I have my doubts. That would mean: narrow egoism = regressive evolution and even that would be limited to a certain number of ‘blond beasts’ or black ones”.

39 Kropotkin to Guillaume, 12 June 1903, IISH, Nettlau Collection, 293, KVI.

40 Kropotkin, Anarchist Morality (London, n.d.), p. 8.

41 Kropotkin, , “Communism and Anarchy”, part 2, Freedom, 159 (08 1901)Google Scholar.

42 Kropotkin, to Brandes, Georg, 20 March 1903, Correspondance de Georg Brandes II, ed. Kruger, Paul (Copenhagen, 1956), p. 179Google Scholar.

43 Kropotkin, , “Enough of Illusions”, Freedom, 220 (08 1907)Google Scholar.

44 See Kropotkin's letters to Nettlau, 17 February and 5 March 1902, IISH, Nettlau, 287.

45 See, for example, Kropotkin, , “The Great French Revolution and Its Lesson”, The Nineteenth Century, XXV (1889), pp. 838–851Google Scholar.

46 Kropotkin quoting Ferrer, Francisco, “Speech at the Ferrer Meeting”, Memorial Hall, 21 09 1909,Google ScholarMS, IISH, Nettlau, 290, KIV .

47 Kropotkin, , “On the Teaching of Physiography”, from the Geographical Journal (10 1893), p. 5Google Scholar.

48 Kropotkin, , Ideals and Realities in Russian Literature (New York, 1916), p. 69Google Scholar.

49 Kropotkin, “Teaching of Physiography”, p. 6.

50 The inductive-deductive method combines primary observations with explanatory hypotheses which are then tested against further observations. For a description see Kropotkin, Memoirs, pp. 163–164.

51 Kropotkin, , Modern Science and Anarchism (London, 1912), p. 40Google Scholar.

52 Kropotkin, , “The Scientific Bases of Anarchy”, The Nineteenth Century, XXI (1887), p. 238Google Scholar.

53 Kropotkin, Modern Science, p. 20.

54 Kropotkin, “Scientific Bases”, n. 1, p. 244.

55 Ibid., p. 239.

56 Kropotkin, “Teaching of Physiography”, p. 6.

57 Ibid., p. 38.

58 Kropotkin, Modern Science, p. 1.

59 Kropotkin, Memoirs, p. 81.

60 Ibid., p. 93.

61 For an examination of nineteenth-century Russian biology see Surdo, Francesco M. and Acanfora, Michele, “Darwin and Russian Evolutionary Biology”, in Kohn, David (ed.), The Darwinian Heritage (Princeton, 1985), pp. 731–749Google Scholar; Rogers, James Allen, “The Reception of Darwin's Origin of Species by Russian Scientists”, Isis, 64, 224 (1973), pp. 484–504CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed, and “The Russian Populists' Response to Darwin”, Slavic Review, 22 (1963), pp. 456–168.

62 Todes, “Darwin's Malthusian Metaphor”, pp. 538–542.

63 Ibid., pp. 542–545.

64 An account of Severtsov's contribution to Russian biology is given in Vucinich, Alexander, Science in Russian Culture 1861–1917 (Stanford, 1970), pp. 294–295Google Scholar.

65 Kropotkin, Memoirs, p. 165.

66 Kropotkin, Memoirs, p. 165 and “Mutual Aid Among Animals”, pp. 348–349.

67 Kropotkin, “Scientific Bases”, p. 246.

68 See Kropotkin, , Fields, Factories and Workshops (London, 1913)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and for a response, Drysdale, C.V., Can Everyone Be Fed? A Reply to Prince Kropotkin (London, 1913)Google Scholar; and Clarke, William, “Industrial”, in Shaw, George Bernard (ed.) Fabian Essays, 6th ed. (London, 1962), pp. 94–134Google Scholar.

69 Kropotkin to Robin, 31 August 1879, IISH, Nettlau Collection, 293, KVI.

70 Kropotkin, Memoirs, p. 335.

71 Ibid., p. 336.

72 Kropotkin, “Mutual Ai d Among Animals”, pp. 338–339.

73 Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species (New York, n.d.), p. 56.

74 Kropotkin, “Mutual Aid Amon g Animals”, p. 338.

75 Kropotkin, Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution (Boston, n.d.), pp. 72–75 and appendix VI.

76 Ibid., p. 75.

77 Huxley, T.H., “The Struggle for Existence: A Programme”, The Nineteenth Century, XXIII (1888), pp. 161–180Google Scholar. See also his Evolution and Ethics: The Romanes Lecture (London, 1893).

78 Kropotkin, “The Ethical Need of the Present Day”, p. 215.

79 Kropotkin, “The Theory of Evolution and Mutual Aid”, p. 86.

80 Ibid. p. 89.

81 Ibid., p. 90.

82 Ibid., p. 98.

83 See Kropotkin, “The Direct Action of Environment and Evolution”, p. 89.

84 See Kropotkin, “The Inheritance of Acquired Characters”, “Inherited Variation in Animals” and “The Direct Action of Environment and Evolution”.

85 Kropotkin's discussion of Lamarckianism extended into his “Recent Science” series for The Nineteenth Century. See especially his articles in vol. XXXII (1892), pp. 1007–1014; vol. XXXV (1894), pp. 684–691; and vol. L (1901), pp. 423–438.

86 Kropotkin, Ethics, pp. 334–335.

87 Kropotkin to Alexandra Atabekian, quoted in Woodcock, Ethics, p. xvii.

88 Kropotkin to Nettlau, 28 November 1895, IISH, Nettlau Collection, 287, KI.

89 Malatesta, Errico, “Peter Kropotkin – Recollections and Criticisms of an Old Friend”, The Raven, 5:4 (1992), p. 399Google Scholar.

90 Kropotkin to Guillaume, 12 June 1903. “You have seen, with Mutual Aid, and you will see with The State: Its Historic Role what a remarkable, powerful tool of investigation the anarchist tendency represents – the anarchist hypothesis in the language of science […] And – more than that. Without the principle of mutual aid – the legitimate child of anarchy there is no means of building an Ethics”.

91 Kropotkin to Guillaume, 12 June 1903.

92 Kropotkin to Herzig, 29 April 1911, IISH, Herzig Collection; Kropotkin to Guillaume, 17 March 1903, IISH, Nettlau Collection, 293, KVI.

93 Kropotkin, “;The Direct Action of the Environment and Evolution”, p. 75.

94 Kropotkin, , Revolutionary Studies (London, 1892), pp. 9–10Google Scholar.

95 Kropotkin, “The Ethical Need of the Present Day”, p. 213.

96 Kropotkin to Guillaume, 23 December 1902. “For my part, I see in Mutual Aid, traced back to the lower animals, or rather from the lower animals to us, I see the most atheistic of anti-religious arguments. It drives neo-Darwinism from its last refuge – Christian ethics – by stating that ‘Christian morality has taught us nothing that could not be learnt from ants practising mutual aid’, when they talked of loving one's neighbour; and in talking of love instead of solidarity, it has only opened the door to the most insane kind of individualism.”

97 Kropotkin, Ethics, pp. 322–332.

98 See Kropotkin to Herzig, 9 March 1909, IISH, Herzig Collection, on the republication in 1909 of “Propaganda Par Le Fait” in Le Reveil. Kropotkin attributes the article to Paul Brousse and draws an explicit contrast between its message and that contained in his own “L'esprit de révolte”.

99 Kropotkin, Modern Science, p. 41.

100 Ibid., p. 45.

101 Kropotkin, , “Proposed Communist Settlement: A New Colony for Tyneside or Wearside”, Newcastle Daily Chronicle, 20 02 1895Google Scholar.

102 Kropotkin, , Revolutionary Studies (London, 1892), p. 9Google Scholar.