Mutual Aid: The Other Law of the Jungle

In the merciless arena of life, we are all subject to the law of the jungle, to ruthless competition and the survival of the fittest – such is the myth that has given rise to a society that has become toxic for our generation and our planet. But today the lines are shifting. A growing number of new movements and thinkers are challenging this skewed view of the world and reviving outdated words like ‘altruism’, ‘cooperation’, ‘kindness’ and ‘solidarity’. Our era is rediscovering with a sense of wonder that this jungle also has a strong scent of mutual aid. A close look at the wide spectrum of living beings reveals that, at all times and all places, animals, plants, micro-organisms and human beings have practised different forms of mutual aid. And those who survive difficult conditions best are not necessarily the strongest, but those who help each other the most. Through a multidisciplinary inquiry, Pablo Servigne and Gauthier Chapelle explore a vast, forgotten continent of mutual aid in order to discover the mechanisms of this ‘other law of the jungle’. In so doing, they provide a more rounded view of the world of living things and give us some of the conceptual tools we need to move beyond the vicious circle of competition and self-destruction that is leading our civilization to the verge of collapse.