Mutualism, mutualist movement or movement of mutuals is a social movement

Social movement

Social movements are a type of group action. They are large informal groupings of individuals or organizations focused on specific political or social issues, in other words, on carrying out, resisting or undoing a social change....

 that aims at creating and promoting mutual organization

Mutual organization

A mutual, mutual organization, or mutual society is an organization based on the principle of mutuality. Unlike a true cooperative, members usually do not contribute to the capital of the company by direct investment, but derive their right to profits and votes through their customer relationship...

s, mutual insurance

Mutual insurance

A mutual insurance company is an insurance company which has no shareholders but instead is owned entirely by its policyholders. The primary form of financial business set up as a mutual company in the United States has been mutual insurance. Under this idea, what would have been profits are...

s and mutual fund

Mutual fund

A mutual fund is a professionally managed type of collective investment scheme that pools money from many investors to buy stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, and/or other securities.- Overview :...

s. The movement encourages and assists those whose access provides mutual benefits against any risks or to raise their material and spiritual, by making a regular payment or contribution. Mutualism, institutionalized through mutual funds, has been universally recognized as a generator or embryo of classical forecast

Forecasting

Forecasting is the process of making statements about events whose actual outcomes have not yet been observed. A commonplace example might be estimation for some variable of interest at some specified future date. Prediction is a similar, but more general term...

 and modern social security

Social security

Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...

 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.

Originating from an adaptation of guild system at the 18th century (see: guild

Guild

A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...

, 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

Financial institution

In financial economics, a financial institution is an institution that provides financial services for its clients or members. Probably the most important financial service provided by financial institutions is acting as financial intermediaries...

, insurers, union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

s, entities to promote solidarity economics, trade association

Trade association

A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association or sector association, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry...

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

Cooperative

A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...

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

Building off the Mutualist movement of the 18th Century, Sara Horowitz

Sara Horowitz

Sara Horowitz is the founder of Working Today and Freelancers Union, leading organizations of independent workers. She was an Echoing green fellow in 1995, and she was named a MacArthur Fellow in 1999...

, founder and Executive Director of Freelancers Union

Freelancers Union

Freelancers Union is a non-profit organization in the United States that provides health insurance to its members through its for-profit Freelancers Insurance Company as well as service information through monthly meetings and information on its website....

has identified a series of related phenomena that she calls New Mutualism.