Evolutionary Politics: Socialism for Social Species (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780646826066)

The foundational myth of contemporary capitalism - the individual alone, in a state of nature - is just that: a myth. Both Darwin and early anarchists like Piotr Kropotkin understood that mutual aid lay at the heart of nature's conquest of the earth. A rich tradition of evolutionary socialism and left-wing Darwinism has been forgotten. "Evolutionary Politics: Socialism for Social Species" applies the new science of cultural evolution to the modern world, showing that the rise of fascism, political extremism and tribalism can be best understood through an evolutionary lens. By demonstrating that humans are adapted for group life in symbolic communities, we can show how the myth of the rational actor has led economists, political scientists and policy-makers to fundamentally misunderstand the human social world. As we become ever more fractured and isolated from one another, "Evolutionary Politics: Socialism for Social Species" argues that not only is a better, more solidaristic world possible - it's necessary if we are to survive as a species.