The Big Society and the 'Mutualisation' of Public Services: A Critical Commentary.

The article discusses aspects of mutualism in Great Britain's Conservative party's Big Society policy plan, which emphasizes social responsibility and local community involvement over state control, focusing on the plan's emergence, development, implementation, and impact. The author defines mutuals as organisations devoted to the benefit of their members and notes the guiding principles and design of member-owned businesses. The marginalisation of friendly societies is related to the rise of the British welfare state following World War II, and the mutualism of the Labour party government is contrasted with that of the Big Society. Other topics include the policy's implementation by an Office for Civil Society and a 2011 report on the progress of mutual pathfinders in Great Britain.