“Besides the law of Mutual Struggle there is in Nature the law of Mutual Aid, which, for the success of the struggle for life, and especially for the progressive evolution of the species, is far more important than the law of mutual contest” – Peter Kropotkin

“Disasters, while producing undeniable misery, also bring to the fore the latent power of reciprocity, which always remains submerged, fractured and inchoate in the capitalist world of exchange. In this way, the kind of improvised, spontaneous mutual aid which characterises disaster communities points to latent potentials for radical social change.” – Out of the Woods

Mutual Aid is a key principle of anarchist theory. The belief, backed by much evolutionary, psychological and sociological research, that humans are naturally cooperative and that this tendency can, and must, be the basis of our social struggle and future society.

Far from a hellish war of all against all, the absence of capitalism and the state often produces the conditions for solidarity and collaboration. Disasters, natural or political, are dreadful and we do not wish them, but even in the worst conditions we should not despair.

We’ll discuss the history of mutual aid as an idea, the relation to disasters and people’s natural response to them, and what we can practically do right now for survival pending revolution.

Free and all welcome.

Monday 23rd Jan.

6-9pm with tea breaks liberally sprinkled throughout.

Glasgow Autonomous Space. Email glasgow@afed.org.uk for address if you don’t know already 🙂