Towards an intellectual history of evolutionary economics: Competition and struggle versus cooperation and mutual aid

Abstract

Our inquiry considers the origins of Evolutionary Economics by reintroducing a debate that took place in Russia in the 19th and early 20th century. Responses to Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species are considered, especially critiques stressing Darwin's emphasis upon competition and struggle in natural selection, that can be traced directly to Thomas Robert Malthus. Considering challenging contributions made by several Russian scholars, we place special emphasis upon Peter Kropotkin's focus on cooperation and "mutual aid" in natural selection and evolution. We then speculate upon the commonality found in the evolutionary views advanced by Kropotkin and his American contemporary, Thorstein Veblen.