A form of anarchism associated with Proudhon, in which individuals and groups exchange products on the basis of mutually agreed contracts and mutual credit, without exploitation or a coercive state.
In more detail
Proudhon took the name from Lyon weavers' mutualist societies and envisaged workers' associations, mutual credit and federation. He distinguished possession of land and tools, which he defended, from property used to exploit others' labour. Mutualism influenced the First International and later anarchists such as Bakunin and Kropotkin.