Mutualism and the Reinvention of Civil Society: A Conservative Agenda?

Abstract

I am glad that in the friendly society movement we know no politics. Politics have such powers of penetrating most things that I am thankful that this movement has never been captured by any of the political machines. (Stanley Baldwin, ‘Friendly Societies’, 1924)2 Though the ‘demutualisation’ of insurance and building societies has been rapid in recent years,3 the promotion of the third or mutual sector has, since the early 1990s, become a fashionable theme in British politics.4 In essence its proponents seek to devolve activities currently performed by state institutions to communally run and mutually owned providers. Mutualism has taken over from stakeholding, communitarianism, citizenship as a ‘buzzword’ in think-tank publications, opinion pieces and political speeches, which often contain wistful invocations of friendly societies and self-help. Mutualism forms a sub-theme of the wider debate surrounding the desire to reinvigorate or ‘reinvent’ civil society,5 and attempts to promote ‘localism’6 and has attracted interest from those holding differing ideological positions and party affiliations.KeywordsCivil SocietyWelfare StateFree MarketBritish SocietyVoluntary SectorThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.