Somerville Massachusetts Mayor Ballantyne announces guaranteed basic income pilot program  

Somerville Massachusetts Mayor Ballantyne announces guaranteed basic income pilot program  

Note: This pilot program’s recipients are means-tested so the program does not meet BIEN’s definition of basic income.

“Mayor Katjana Ballantyne joins more than 100 mayors from across the country as part of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI), a coalition of mayors who establish and advocate for local and national guaranteed income programs. Guaranteed income programs provide unrestricted cash payments directly to vulnerable residents to create greater financial stability for those most in need. Somerville’s program goes beyond that general goal; it also specifically aims to support housing stability. The city’s program will serve a group of the city’s lowest-income households who are at risk of losing their housing.”

To read the full article, click here.  

BIEN 2024 Congress: Call for Papers

BIEN 2024 Congress: Call for Papers

“BIEN 2024 is focused on basic income’s potential as a tool for social transformation towards an economically just, politically inclusive and ecologically sustainable world. The Congress theme is thus about constructing a transformative vision of society – built on the principles of universal sufficiency, social and distributive justice, inclusion, care, and ecological sustainability – and exploring the role of basic income in that vision, and the best strategies to achieve it. See full description of the theme of the Congress here.

How to submit?
To propose a paper or presentation, please fill in the form here. The deadline for submissions is the 15th of April 2024. In case of any queries, write to biencongress2024@gmail.com. “
New book on UBI by Karl Widerquist

New book on UBI by Karl Widerquist

The growing movement for universal basic income (UBI) has been gaining attention from politics and the media with the audacious idea of a regular, unconditional cash grant for everyone as a right of citizenship. This volume in the Essential Knowledge series from MIT Press presents the first short, solid UBI introduction that is neither academic nor polemic. It takes a position in favor of UBI, but its primary goal remains the provision of essential knowledge by answering the fundamental questions about it: What is UBI? How does it work? What are the arguments for and against it? What is the evidence?

To read more about the book and or purchase it, click here.

Bath UBI Beacon and India Basic Income Network Session, 21st March 4-6pm (Paris)

Bath UBI Beacon and India Basic Income Network Session, 21st March 4-6pm (Paris)

“For this session, we will be in discussion with Vibhor Mathur. Vibhor is a Doctoral Researcher at the University of Bath and is a UK and Research Associate at University of Cardiff, UK.

Vibhor studies the transformative potential of basic income through pilots and advocacy in South Asia and Europe. His doctoral research on the the WorkFREE project in Hyderabad, India, focuses on the role basic income can play in the fight for dignity, freedom and decent work.”

To read more and/or register to participate, click here.

The Debate Over the Definition of Basic Income – Online Forum

The Debate Over the Definition of Basic Income – Online Forum

Karl Widerquist will present his new article “the Debate Over the Definition of Basic Income,” via zoom in an online open forum of BIEN’s Working Group on the Clarification of the Definition of Basic Income on March 13 in some time zones and March 14 in others:
Central Time (US): 13 March, 8-9:30pm
Eastern Time (US): 13 March, 9-10:30pm
GMT (UK): 14 March, 01:00-2:30am
Tokyo Time (Japan): 14 March, 10-11:30am.

A video recording of the debate is now available: “The Debate Over the definition of Basic Income,” presented by Karl Widerquist, hosted by Toru Yamamori for BIEN’s Working Group on the Clarification of the Definition of Basic Income. Annie Miller, Michael Howard, Pierre Madden, and others participate in the discussion. Recorded 8pm 13 March 2024 (Central time – USA). To view the debate, click below.

YouTube player