“Rival Benefit” is the phenomenon by which different parties make each other better off in virtue of a disagreement between them. It’s named after Diego Rivera’s painting, “The Rivals” (1931), whose history happens to exemplify it.
The story of the “The Rivals” is one example I make use of in a presentation, “Enemies with Benefits,” that I was invited by the University of South Carolina Libraries to give as part of their “Live @ The Library” series (a series of short talks by faculty for a primarily student audience). The talk took place over Instagram Live earlier today, which was a new experience for me. I think it went pretty well, despite the reversed camera which made it appear as if I was holding up signs written backwards. You can check it out below or on the UofSC Library’s Instagram Feed.
DISAGREE 