User:Editor510/Sandbox/mutual aid

English

Etymology

mutual +‎ aid. Popularised by the anarcho-communist philosopher, Peter Kropotkin.

Noun

mutual aid (uncountable)

1. (politics, philosophy) The state of cooperation, as opposed to competition, as a factor in evolution and social development.

   1902, Peter Kropotkin, “Introduction”, in Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution:

   [I]n all these scenes of animal life which passed before my eyes, I saw mutual aid and mutual support carried on to an extent which made me suspect in it a feature of the greatest importance for the maintenance of life, the preservation of each species, and its further evolution.

2. (anarchism, communism) By extension, a voluntary reciprocal exchange of resources and services for mutual benefit.
3. (deprecated label) An agreement among emergency responders to lend assistance across jurisdictional boundaries.
4. (social work) A social work practice model in which members of a group both provide and receive help.

Derived terms

• mutual aid network
• mutual aid society

 

[Category:en:Anarchism]