ASSOCIATION, MUTUALISM, AND CORPORATE FORM IN THE PUBLISHED AND UNPUBLISHED WRITINGS OF PIERRE-JOSEPH PROUDHON

This article explores the relationship between Proudhon's understanding of ``mutualism'' and ``association''. It argues that Proudhon's dual understanding of both terms was influenced by his reflections on corporate form. Prior to 1848, Proudhon imagined a ``progressive association'' which would at once incarnate the mutualist transformation of economic life, be more than a mere cooperative ``association'', and gradually expand in scope and size to take over the national and, eventually, the international economy. During the Second Empire, Proudhon's thinking about business organisation evolved: increasingly he advocated corporate decentralization and no longer focused on economic expansion along mutualist lines.