The Dialectical Thought of Mutualism

Mutualist anarchism is a philosophy that advocates voluntary, democratic, and cooperative ownership within a free market; that is, a socialistic society without compulsive authority.

“What is the difference between libertarianism and mutualism?” you may already wonder. These categories share a similar relationship to the classifications dog and beagle. Not all dogs are beagles, but all beagles are most certainly dogs. Just the same, not all libertarians are necessarily mutualist in their economic outlook, but all mutualists are libertarian. That is, mutualists oppose domination through taxation and monopoly, are opposed to government restrictions on business, and would rather see the market select the services offered to the public on a basis of reciprocity. What keeps libertarians from all being mutualists, however, is that mutualists, as well as being advocates of free markets, are also socialists. We maintain a unique synthesis of these two normally opposing systems. Our socialism, however, does not impede upon our libertarianism, nor do our freedoms keep us from remaining egalitarian.

To understand the beginning of mutualism we must first turn to the early 19th century German philosopher, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, whose dialectical philosophies greatly influenced the French mutualism of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, as well as the thinking of his lesser-known contemporary, fellow Frenchman, Pierre Leroux. Charles Fourier, another Frenchman credited with being the originator of the term feminism and a builder of communes, and the Welshman, Robert Owen, one of the founders of the cooperative movement and utopian socialism, also had a role to play in the cooperative and communal philosophies that mutualists would come to ally with.

Hegel, most likely following Zeno of Elea, understood the motion of history as being powered by opposing forces, known as dialectical forces. Dialectics describe the interaction between a thesis (a general direction of thought or movement) and its antithesis (the opposite). These two forces oppose one another, but will ultimately culminate in a synthesis (the combination of both), which then begins the cycle anew, with the synthesis acting as the next thesis. Hegel’s thought bore great understanding to the political and economic conditions of both Proudhon and Leroux. Indeed, Proudhon once said, seemingly tired of being accused of Fourierism,

I have certainly read Fourier, and have spoken of him more than once in my works; but, upon the whole, I do not think that I owe anything to him. My real masters, those who have caused fertile ideas to spring up in my mind, are three in number: first, the Bible; next, Adam Smith; and last, Hegel.[i]

Pierre Leroux released his work, entitled Individualism and Socialism, in 1834, supposedly giving both terms their names, and arguing that both extremes were right and wrong to certain degrees, and that elements of both are necessary. Proudhon was inspired to write What is Property? in 1840 in which he declared property was simultaneously robbery and liberty. In the pages of What is Property? he declared that the only legitimate title of stewardship was based upon occupancy-and-use. It is in this notion, this contradiction between property and socialism, that mutualism sets its foundation. As the Hegelian dialectic would dictate, the thesis— property— was being challenged by its antithesis— communism— and was destined to find a middle ground in a synthesis— mutualism. Proudhon says,

Communism—the first expression of the social nature—is the first term of social development,—the THESIS; property, the reverse of communism, is the second term,—the ANTITHESIS. When we have discovered the third term, the SYNTHESIS, we shall have the required solution. Now, this synthesis necessarily results from the correction of the thesis by the antithesis. Therefore it is necessary, by a final examination of their characteristics, to eliminate those features which are hostile to sociability. The union of the two remainders will give us the true form of human association.

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This third form of society, the synthesis of communism and property, we will call Liberty.[ii]

Most mutualists trace their roots...

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