by Yannick Vanderborght | Feb 25, 2012 | News
At the initiative of several green movements, this event will (among other things) include a projection of “Basic Income”, the documentary by Daniel Häni et Enno Schmidt, and a debate between basic income supporter Philippe Defeyt (former leader of the green party Ecolo) and basic income critic Bernard Friot (French sociologist and expert in issues of social protection).
This event takes place in Namur, Belgium on March 17, 2012 between 2:30PM and 10PM. Location: Faculté de médecine, Place du Palais de Justice, 5000 Namur.
Further information: https://objecteursdecroissance.be/IMG/pdf/revenu_de_base_mpoc_leger_2_.pdf
Or contact: Michèle Gilkinet <michele.gilkinet@base.be>
by Yannick Vanderborght | Feb 18, 2012 | News
The 14th Congress of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) will take place on September 14 to 16, 2012 in Munich, Germany. The website is online at: https://www.bien2012.de/en
Call for Papers, Proposals, and Events
Deadline for submissions, April 15, 2012
The debate about an unconditional basic income has attracted public attention in a number of countries in recent years. Financial, debt, and ecological crises are causing growing numbers of people to look for political alternatives to the existing economy and the way income is distributed within it. With the debate entering this crucial phase, the 2012 BIEN Congress will discuss possible pathways and barriers towards establishing and implementing Basic Income. This year, the Network Basic Income Germany (Netzwerk Grundeinkommen Deutschland) is organizing the conference.
We propose that the conference focuses on the following questions:
- What could a specific roadmap to Basic Income look like, nationally and internationally? What contribution could pilot projects make towards the implementation of Basic Income? Which reforms would need to be prioritized? What barriers need to be overcome, and how?
- Is there evidence for broader public support for a basic income? What are current Basic Income debates and social movements focusing on? What political and civil society alliances are possible and potentially productive?
- How do Basic Income debates relate to the current financial and debt crisis? Could a Basic Income contribute to combating the effects of this crisis and prevent future crises? What criteria would the concept of Basic Income have to meet to make such a contribution?
- How does Basic Income relate to the ecological crisis? How could it contribute to an alternative, more sustainable economy and way of life? Which conceptual design would be most appropriate from that perspective?
- Which versions of Basic Income are viable (with respect to the ecological, social and economic crises), affordable, and politically feasible?
- What is the normative justification for Basic Income, and what goals does it aim to achieve? How do these goals respond to current economic, environmental and social problems?
The conference aims to present an opportunity for an open, interdisciplinary discussion of the problems and questions surrounding Basic Income. The above questions are not intended to set strict boundaries, but to facilitate open and thematically wide-ranging discussions.
We invite all interested groups and individuals, both advocates and critics of Basic Income, to submit abstracts for presentations, workshops, and posters. Subject to constraints on space, film-screenings and readings will also be possible. Proposals of up to 400 words should be submitted in German or English by 15 April 2012 at https://www.bien2012.de/en.
The conference program will be compiled from all submissions by 15th May 2012. All those who have made a submission will receive a message shortly afterwards. If you have any questions please contact us at callforpapers@bien2012.de.
Further information on the conference fee, accommodation and travel can be found at the website.
Kind Regards,
Academic Advisory Group for the 14th BIEN Congress:
Prof. Dr. Claus Offe, Dr. Milena Büchs, Dr. Ingmar Kumpmann, Dorothee Schulte-Basta, Ronald Blaschke
Berlin, 3. Februar 2012
by Yannick Vanderborght | Feb 15, 2012 | News
French politician Christine Boutin withdraw her candidacy for the next presidential election, and announced on the French television TF1 that she reached an agreement with the unofficial candidate Nicolas Sarkozy.
The president of the Christian-Democrat Party explained that recent speeches of the president Nicolas Sarkozy proved he defends the same values as her such as family, marriage, work, and religious roots of Europe. All in all: Conservative values. As a contrast, Christine Boutin is a long-time supporter of basic income and is very committed in the fight against poverty.
Yet in 2011, Boutin made clear she would support Sarkozy under three conditions, including the basic income (see an earlier article on BI News). Indeed, she said on TF1 that the agreement finally reached with Nicolas Sarkozy included a deal about the basic income. Apparently, Sarkozy would mandate her to lead a parliamentary commission to examine the proposal, and would play “an important role” in the election campaign.
Does Nicolas Sarkozy actually support basic income? This remains unclear. At first sight, after all the measures taken against unemployment rights and social welfare by the government during his presidency, this seems very unlikely. But ironically, the general feeling in France is that Sarkozy is “capable of everything to stay in power”.
As Boutin said on TF1: “The basic income is a proposal currently discussed very seriously in Germany, and is perfectly fundable”. Could these arguments convince Nicolas Sarkozy? In a recent speech, the president was highly criticized for referring too much to the German model.
Nicolas Sarkozy and Christine Boutin met several times lately. According to sources familiar with Christine Boutin, the negotiations were running positively for her.
Christine Boutin advocates for a basic income of 400 euros per adult per month, and 200 per children, regardless of means. In her proposal, the basic income would substitute for several, but not all current social grants the French system offers, and would be conditioned upon the completion of compulsory national service, military or civilian.
Boutin’s proposal is considered “very low” from the basic income supporters in France. In a recent study (pdf), Marc de Basquiat proved 400 euros is, on average, the amount every French citizen already earns from the welfare system.
However, in a way, this would make the basic income “visible” behind the complex French social model, not to mention it would simplify it and make it much more understandable.
by Yannick Vanderborght | Feb 11, 2012 | News
Hodgson, Glen “Guaranteed annual income – a Big Idea whose time has yet to arrive” (iPolitics, December 20, 2011)
This article by Glen Hodgson, Senior Vice-President and Chief Economist of the Conference Board of Canada since 2004, discusses the economic, fiscal and social value of a guaranteed annual income (GAI) for Canada and demands further detailed research on the feasibility of GAI. After introducing GAI as “a minimum level of income for every individual or family in the country, delivered without condition through the existing income tax system” and a brief summary of the history of this concept, Hodgson stresses three main advantages of a GAI:
1) Prevention of poverty
2) Reducing the so called “welfare wall”
3) Reducing health care spending
To support his argument, Hodgson introduces an analysis of the “health and social impacts of the MINCOME experiment” in Canada during the 1970s. This analysis by Evelyn Forget demonstrates evidence of above presented advantages. Hodgson concludes that a GAI is “an appealing ‘big idea’ whose time has yet to arrive politically” and that “there is no better time than right now to heat up the debate”.
Wolfgang Müller – BI News
https://www.ipolitics.ca/2011/12/20/guaranteed-annual-income-a-big-idea-whose-time-has-yet-to-arrive/
by Yannick Vanderborght | Jan 19, 2012 | Research
BIRNBAUM, Simon (2011), ‘Should surfers be ostracized? Basic income, liberal neutrality, and the work ethos’…
Neutralists have argued that there is something illiberal about linking access to gift-like resources to work requirements. The central liberal motivation for basic income is to provide greater freedom to choose between different ways of life, including options attaching great importance to non-market activities and disposable time. As argued by Philippe Van Parijs, even those spending their days surfing should be fed. This article by Simon Birnbaum (Department of Political Science, Stockholm University) examines Van Parijs’ dual commitment to a ‘real libertarian’ justification of basic income and the public enforcement of a strong work ethos, which serves to boost the volume of work at a given rate of taxation. It is argued (contra Van Parijs) that this alliance faces the neutrality objection: the work ethos will largely offset the liberal gains of unconditionality by radically restricting the set of permissible options available. A relaxed, non-obligatory ethos might avoid this implication. This view, however, is vulnerable to the structural exploitation objection: feasibility is achieved only because some choose to do necessary tasks to which most people have the same aversion. In light of these objections, the article examines whether there is a morally untainted feasibility path consistent with liberal objectives.
Full references:
BIRNBAUM, Simon (2011), ‘Should surfers be ostracized? Basic income, liberal neutrality, and the work ethos’, Politics, Philosophy, Economics, November 2011, vol. 10, no. 4, 396-419. See: https://ppe.sagepub.com/content/10/4/396.abstract
