Four Chinese students have been working with BIEN for three months

From the 24th May to the 24th August 2021 four Chinese students undertook internships with BIEN. They attended a five day introductory course about Basic Income and the global Basic Income debate, translated pages and posts on the BIEN website into Chinese, summarised in English relevant documents in Chinese, constructed individual Basic Income schemes for China and worked together to create a joint Basic Income scheme, completed individual projects that connected what they had learnt about Basic Income with the subjects of their degrees, and attended the BIEN congress. it was a pleasure to be able to work with such intelligent and motivated students.

The translations of pages and posts on the BIEN website into Chinese can be found here;

summaries in English of relevant documents in Chinese here;

and the Basic Income scheme for China that the students created together is here.

The students’ final individual projects are listed here:

Our thanks to Amanda, Sherry, Qihao and Joey for working with BIEN; to Dr. Furui Cheng, Tyler Prochazka, Li-Hsin Leen, Dr. Leah Hamilton, and other members of the Executive Committee, for assistance with the introductory course and other aspects of the internship programme; and to the Global Cultural Adventurers organisation for finding such intelligent and committed students for us to work with.

A comprehensive history of Basic Income

A comprehensive history of Basic Income

A comprehensive history of Basic Income is to be published this month.

The publisher says this about the book: 

Presenting a truly comprehensive history of Basic Income, Malcolm Torry explores the evolution of the concept of a regular unconditional income for every individual, as well as examining other types of income as they relate to its history. Examining the beginnings of the modern debate at the end of the eighteenth century right up to the current global discussion, this book draws on a vast array of original historical sources and serves as both an in-depth study of, and introduction to, Basic Income and its history.

Summaries in English of some documents in Chinese

During the Summer of 2021 four Chinese students volunteered with BIEN, and one of the tasks that they fulfilled was to write summaries in English of a number of relevant documents in Chinese.

Name of original document in ChineseSummaries
天上掉馅饼的全民基本收入设想劳拉泰森Summary 1
中国失业保险制度改革方向纳入社省略助基于历史背景与功能定位的分析_李珍Summary 2
丰裕社会的减贫实验西方全民基本收入运动及其困境林红Summary 3
全民基本收入社会福利制度的创新还是空想徐富海Summary 4
全民基本收入西方国家再平衡的一个尝试赵柯Summary 5
全民基本收入成本与中国政府财政能力基于马丁法贫困测量的实证研究肖涵Summary 6
全民基本收入理论与政策评介_万海远Summary 7
基本收入的理论构想与渐进式实现路径_张传洲Summary 8
大规模社会危机冲击下的现金补助计划基于全民基本收入理念的分析岳经纶Summary 9
授之以鱼抑或授之以渔全民基本收入是祝福还是诅咒后歆桐Summary 10
普遍基本收入回应人工智能挑战的政策选择肖涵Summary 11
民众福利与政府角色_任赜Summary 12
资本主义制度再平衡全民基本收入的理念与实践赵柯Summary 13

Thank you to Chunzhuo Zhang (Joey), Fang Yuan (Sherry), Xianwen Huang (Amanda) and Qihao Liang (Qihao) for writing these summaries.

3rd Gyeonggi Basic Income Conference featured researchers from BIEN

With the theme, ‘From the COVID-19 Disaster to New Great Transition, Basic Income!’ the 3rd annual Basic Income International Conference was held in Gyeonggi Provence, South Korea, 28-29 April 2021. Hosted by the Gyeonggi Provincial Government, and organised by Gyeonggi Research Institute (GRI), Gyeonggi-do Market Revitalization Agency (GMRA), KINTEX, and the Basic Income Korean Network (BIKN), it featured panel talks and discussion by many researchers from BIEN, including Chair Sarath Davala, Hyosang Ahn, Philippe Van Parijs, Guy Standing, Annie Miller, Troy Henderson, Louise Haagh, Almaz Zelleke, Julio Linares, Roberto Merrill among others. Economist Joseph Stiglitz gave a keynote speech on the second day.

Gyeonggi Provence has been at the forefront of implementing pilot projects of basic income, including a youth basic income, which was expanded to the entire province during the covid crisis, and more recently basic incomes for rural and fishing communities.

The playlist for the conference, which includes versions translated into English is here. In order to find the talks you would like to listen to, please consult the programme here. All times are approximate.

PhD Fellowship on Basic Income for Nature and Climate at the University of Freiburg, Germany for applicants from Indonesia

From the website: The PhD project is part of the larger Basic Income research project that studies how basic income is potentially linked with nature protection and tackling climate change, and how these possible linkages can be addressed in an embedded social-ecological context that is highly relevant for climate stabilization and reversing biodiversity loss at planetary scale and, at the same time, enhancing human well-being. A context that is well-represented in jurisdictions that are rich in forest ecosystem and biodiversity yet with poor population as observed in the provinces in Indonesia where tropical rainforests remain intact such as those in Papua.

In the long-term, part of the project aims to explore a multi-year basic income scheme for nature and climate and undertake necessary trial in a pilot jurisdiction at appropriate scale. Rigorous scientific monitoring and evaluation should be in place for this to assess social and ecological impacts and derive lessons for potential upscaling in other jurisdictions. A policy dialogue (at sub-national, national, and international levels) about the scientific results from the intended study on basic income for nature and climate is to be initiated to prepare the grounds to achieve the purpose. Together with the team at FRIBIS, the PhD position is expected to contribute to providing science-informed insights related to a basic income for nature and climate in the target jurisdiction. Under a joint research initiative, the PhD candidate will be supervised by Professor Dr.rer.oec. Bernhard Neumärker at the University of Freiburg and Dr.rer.pol. Sonny Mumbunan at the University of Indonesia and in close collaboration with teams and members at FRIBIS, and at GIZ.

More information and application details on their website.