Mutuality can be understood as generalized reciprocity. It is action that assumes that another party would act toward the first party in a similar, mutual, fashion if circumstances were reversed, as guaranteed by their mutual inscription in a common sociality, and vice versa, which is to say, such behavior constructs that sociality. It is the mechanism by which strangers and enemies are transformed into pacific acquaintances and potential allies or even affines in the absence of state intervention (Mauss, 1990/1923-24). It is also the element that renders formal precepts and external force unnecessary in the successful management of common property resources (Netting, 1981) and the astonishingly smooth quotidian operation of the corporation (Alter, 2009).

The extension of mutuality or mutual sociality—so often articulated through commensality—is the mechanism by which strangers are transformed into peaceful neighbors or even affines.

The logic of mutuality is also definitional of almost any in-group; certain things will be shared or made freely available within the group and other things will be expected to be provided by any member to any other on request (Graeber, 2011).

Mutuality “is particularly acute in both the best of times and the worst of times: during famines [and disasters], for example, but also during moments of extreme plenty” (Graeber 2011, p.178). Translated into role-related terms, travelers and social scientists have long commented upon the generosity of the poor; the habit of the wealthy of converting their riches, however ill-gotten, into good works is equally ubiquitous.

There is considerable conceptual groundwork laid by Sahlins (2012) in the development of mutuality as a sociological force of sociality. These points, encapsulated nicely in Mauss’ three obligations—to give, to receive and to reciprocate—and elaborated in a broad and deep tradition of anti-utilitarian social science, should be a fine starting point for discussions of mutuality going forward.

References

Alter N (2009) Donner et Prendre. La Coopération en Entreprise. Paris: Editions la Découverte.

Graeber D (2011) Debt. The First 5000 Years. Brooklyn: Melville Publishing.

Mauss M (1990/1924-25) The Gift, The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies, London and New York: Routledge.

Netting RMcC (1981) Balancing on an Alp: Ecological Change and Continuity in a Swiss Mountain Community. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.

Sahlins M (2012) What Kinship Is—And Is Not. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.