I like the philosophy behind Kropotkin, but the history of Mutual Aid isn't great. Understandable because it's over a century old, but as far as medieval history his picture of European communes is off. They weren't models of democracy, bourgeoisie merchants and small business tyrants dominated civil positions in the Netherlands and Italy. Trade guilds were also very hierarchical and were a tool to exclude women from economic activity.
I think David Graeber does a better job at debunking "human nature" in Debt: The First 5000 Years.
Mutual Aid is great for debunking bullshit appeals to "human nature"
I like the philosophy behind Kropotkin, but the history of Mutual Aid isn't great. Understandable because it's over a century old, but as far as medieval history his picture of European communes is off. They weren't models of democracy, bourgeoisie merchants and small business tyrants dominated civil positions in the Netherlands and Italy. Trade guilds were also very hierarchical and were a tool to exclude women from economic activity.
I think David Graeber does a better job at debunking "human nature" in Debt: The First 5000 Years.
Hell yeah Debt is actually one of the books I most frequently recommend to people.