Ideology
Anarcho-MutualismLibertarian
Favors a stateless society built on voluntary exchange and cooperation among equals, with property based on personal use and labor, and mutual credit and fair trade replacing capitalist profit and government coercion.
Core ideas
- Workers' control of production through individual artisans, sole proprietors and cooperatives.
- A free market in which exchange is based on labor and reciprocity.
- Opposition to economic rent, profit and non-nominal interest as exploitation of labor.
- Mutual credit from mutual banks, supporting workers' self-management.
- Occupation and use as the basis of property rights, and a federal society.
Where it sits on the 12 axes
It sits at the very Freedom end of the government axis (govt 0 on Security/Freedom), with the economy mildly toward Collectivize (econ 60 on Collectivize/Privatize). Diplomacy and society are both neutral (dipl 50 and scty 50). Only these four axes enter the calculation, so the closest ideology by distance is named, even though real mutualists treat markets and labor ownership as a single package.
The bar shows the position on each of the four axes an ideology is matched on; the middle mark is the centre.
History
The word mutualism appeared in the 1820s. Josiah Warren, after leaving the New Harmony community, opened the Cincinnati Time Store in 1827, with prices set at cost and exchange by labor notes. The French anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon formed it into a comprehensive economic theory, proposing a People's Bank that would issue mutual credit; his own attempt was foiled by the 1851 coup. After his death it lost ground in the European anarchist movement. American individualists such as Benjamin Tucker adopted and developed it. It was later put into practice in local exchange trading systems and alternative currencies.
Associated thinkers
- Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
- Josiah Warren
Common misunderstandings
- It is not capitalism without a government. It rejects profit, rent and interest as exploitation, and wants worker-owned production.
- It is not the same as anarcho-communism. It keeps markets, money-like exchange and individual or cooperative property, while anarcho-communism abolishes them.
Related ideologies
Is Anarcho-Mutualism your closest ideology?
Take the test and see which of the ideologies your answers sit closest to.
Questions
What is Anarcho-Mutualism?
An anarchist school that advocates workers' control of production, a free market of artisans and cooperatives, and mutual credit, while opposing profit, rent and interest as exploitation of labor.
Is Anarcho-Mutualism left or right?
It is usually called left-libertarian. It is anti-capitalist in its critique of profit, yet favors markets, which is why this site files it under libertarian rather than left or right.
Anarcho-Mutualism vs anarcho-communism?
Both are anarchist and anti-capitalist. Mutualism keeps markets, exchange and personal-use property, with cooperatives and mutual banks. Anarcho-communism abolishes markets, money and wages in favor of common ownership and distribution by need.
How does the 12 Axes test decide I am Anarcho-Mutualism?
It measures the distance between your economy, government, diplomacy and society scores and each ideology's stored values. The smallest distance wins, so a very low government score is a strong signal here.