Mutualism, also known as the movement of mutuals and the mutualist movement, is a

social movement A social movement is either a loosely or carefully organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a Social issue, social or Political movement, political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to re ...

that aims at creating and promoting

mutual organization A mutual organization, also mutual society or simply mutual, is an organization (which is often, but not always, a company or business) based on the principle of mutuality and governed by private law. Unlike a cooperative, members usually do not ...

s, mutual insurances and

mutual fund A mutual fund is an investment fund that pools money from many investors to purchase Security (finance), securities. The term is typically used in the United States, Canada, and India, while similar structures across the globe include the SICAV in ...

s. According to the prominent mutualist Gene Costa, the movement encourages and assists the provision of mutual benefits against risks to those accessing its funds and or the elevation of their material and spiritual living standards by regular payment or contribution. Institutionalized through mutual funds, mutualism has been universally recognized as a generator or embryo of classical forecast and modern

social security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...

systems and currently coexists with them. Although the fall in the popularity of mutual funds in many social environments coincided with the start of public social security system in the early decades of the 20th century, in Europe and other parts of the world mutualism continues to be an important player in the social economy. Mutuals providing healthcare coverage are united in an international association of benefit societies. Originating from an adaptation of guild system at the 18th century (see

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

and mount of piety) and widespread at the 19th century, today there are many mutualist associations worldwide integrated into modern society. Nowadays, mutualism is linked to financial firms, insurers, unions, entities to promote solidarity economics,

trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific Industry (economics), industry. Through collabor ...

s and religious movements. The characteristic sign of mutual movement is its institutional neutrality about political, religious, racial and union affiliations of its members. Mutuals movement and

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

s movement have many points in common, around the idea of professional

mutual aid Mutual aid is an organizational model where voluntary, collaborative exchanges of resources and services for common benefit take place amongst community members to overcome social, economic, and political barriers to meeting common needs. This ...

. Building on the mutualist movement of the 18th century, Sara Horowitz, founder and executive director of Freelancers Union, has identified a series of related phenomena that she calls "new mutualism"."New Mutualism: Mutual Support for the Information Age"
For example, Horowitz and Costa both point to the 40 million Americans currently freelancing as a means of promoting entrepreneurship to more of the middle class.

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Further reading