by Toru Yamamori, Annie Miller | Jan 31, 2025 | Events, News
The Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), at its general assembly in 2019, created the Working Group for Clarification of Basic Income Definition. Since then we have had online open forum, including at the online venue of the BIEN congress in 2021 Glasgow and in 2022 Brisbane, and had an hybrid open forum at the 2024 Bath Congress. We are going to finalize our discussions by our Congress in August this year in Brazil.
We would like to make an open call for the final round of collective discussion. We expect to have several sessions from March to May. Each online session run around 90 – 120 minutes, started with speaker’s presentation(s) with discussions following. Each session would host 1 or 2 speakers. If you are interested in speaking, please show your interest by email both to anniemillerBI@gmail.com and toruyamamori@gmail.com, by 20 February. We might be able to accommodate later submission, but we would appreciate earlier submission.
After we and the speakers agree on the date, we expect speakers will send us a draft paper for their presentation at least a few weeks before the session. In June and July, the working group would work for making a final report on the ‘Clarification of Basic Income definition’. Papers presented at open forum might be attached to the report as appendicies.
by Toru Yamamori | Jul 30, 2024 | News
Date: 14 th August2024
Time: 1pm -3pm GMT (2pm-4pm BST)
Please register via this form: https://forms.gle/DZjSRS7wDdRhK1nw6
The information on Zoom link will be shown in the form.
- Télémaque Masson-Récipon
Why ‘high enough’ just ain’t good enough: the case against the notion of ‘partial
basic income’
- Toru Yamamori
Can BIEN police the definition of basic income? On plurality of authentic
definitions of basic income – its historical roots and lessons for today
- Open discussion related to the above two presentations
by Toru Yamamori | Mar 29, 2024 | Events, News
Open forum on feminist definitions of basic income
co-organised by FRIBIS UBI and Gender team (FRIBIS-UBIG) and by BIEN working group for Clarification of BI definition (BIEN-CBID)
7.30am Eastern Daylight Time (North America) / 12.30pm British Summer Time / 1.30pm Central European Summer Time / 8.30pm Japan Standard Time / 11.30pm New Zealand Standard Time
Facilitators: Chloe Halpenny, Annie Miller, Toru Yamamori, and Almaz Zelleke
Please register here.
Researchers, activists, and community members interested in basic income are invited to this open forum to discuss feminist definitions of basic income.
Background:
Is a penny a month basic income?
Would basic income replace all existing income transfer system?
What might happen to social services if basic income were to be introduced?
Why are some proposals to distribute money to the head of household called basic income, while many others define basic income as individual-based?
Currently there are many proposals made under the name of basic income. The current discourse of basic income has diverse origins. Some are from ivory towers, some are from grassroots social movements such as the Women’s Liberation movement. The difference on the definitions of basic incomes reflects (at least partially) these diverse origins.
It has been a while since this difference of the definitions attracts debates. However, except a few occasions, voices from feminist perspectives have been underrepresented. Here we would like to attempt redressing this situation. In this workshop we would not pursue to reach a particular consensus or direction. It is a place where diverse voices would be raised and heard. All those interested in the discussion are welcome to participate.
by Toru Yamamori | Jun 30, 2023 | Events, News
BIEN working group for Clarification for BI Definition (BIEN CBID)
Online Open Forum
Date: 17 July, 9am -10.30am GMT
Speaker: Télémaque Masson-Récipon
Title: “How distinguishing between a ´narrow understanding´ and a
´broad understanding’ of the basic income concept can help contribute
to the realisation of both”
Abstract: What is a Basic Income ? What debates surround the way it
should be defined ? Why and how do any of these debates matter at all
in practice ? This presentation will try to answer these questions and
defend a proposal aiming at allowing ubi activism to benefit more
directly from these debates. It consist in distinguishing between on
the one hand a narrow understanding of UBI as a way to distribute
ressources (namely as an equal payment in cash to everyone within a
target group on a regular basis without any activity condition) ; and
on the other hand a broader understanding of UBI as the aspiration to
the universal and unconditional guarantee of the material means of
individual autonomy. The adoption of this analytical framework, it
will be argued, is likely to greatly improve the focus and efficiency
of ubi activism as well as to reopen very fertile fields of UBI
research that have been almost entirely neglected over the last two
decades.
Register: please send email to:
CBID cbidbien@gmail.com
Or
Toru Yamamori toruyamamori@gmail.com
by Toru Yamamori | May 31, 2022 | Events, News
Malcolm Torry will present his paper titled “Basic Income: A brief history of the idea”. Discussion will follow.
Abstract:
A Basic Income is ‘a periodic cash payment unconditionally delivered to all on an individual basis, without means-test or work requirement’ (Basic Income Earth Network [BIEN]). It is always that: but within that definition there has been a significant number of variants during the past two centuries—in relation to how often, how much, to whom, and so on. This paper will explore those variants and the reasons for them, both historically and in the context of today’s lively global debate.
The paper will also discuss those tax and benefits policies that are sometimes regarded as variants of Basic Income but in fact are not, and will briefly outline their histories, their relevance to the history of ideas of Basic Income, and their relationship to the current debate.
The full paper is available here.
The forum will be held via zoom. All are welcome. For the link to zoom, please send email to: cbidbien@gmail.com.
The “Clarification of the Basic Income’s Definition” (CBID) working group is an official working group of BIEN established by the BIEN General Assembly 2019 held in Hyderabad, India. The 1st , 2nd , and 3rd open forums were held during BIEN Congress 2021 in Glasgow, the 4rd open forum was held in October 2021, and the 5th was held in April 2022.