by Yannick Vanderborght | May 17, 2011 | Research
BIRNBAUM, Simon (2010), ‘Radical liberalism, Rawls and the welfare state: justifying the politics of basic income’, Critical Review of InternationalSocial and Political Philosophy, 13(4): 495-516.
In response to recent policy trends towards linking social rights moretightly to work requirements, this article argues that those sharingRawlsian commitments have good reasons to prefer a radical-liberal policy agenda with a universal basic income at its core. Compared to its main rivals in present policy debates, the politics of basic income has greater potential to promote the economic life prospects of the least advantaged in a way that provides a robust protection for the bases of social recognition and non-subservience. The argument seeks to establish that these concerns should be ascribed priority in the most plausible balancing of Rawlsian objectives and that doing so generates a strong case for basic income. As recent arguments for basic income have suggested that Rawls’ theory is insufficient to make the case for such a reform, this analysis also demonstrates that a powerful argument for basic income can be built on Rawlsian foundations alone.
Author’s email: simon.birnbaum@statsvet.su.se
by Karl Widerquist | Mar 8, 2011 | Research
The New Zealand Herald
This opinion piece suggests that an integrated basic income and flat income tax would improve new Zealand’s tax and benefit system. The author is the director of Gareth Morgan Investments, an investment manager and superannuation provider.
The article is online at:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10710744
by Karl Widerquist | Nov 14, 2010 | Research
REYNOLDS, Brigid, HEALY, Sean, COLLINS, Micheal (eds.) (2010), The Future of the Welfare State, Dublin: Social Justice Ireland. September 2010. I.S.B.N. No: 978 1 907501 03 6; 136 pages.
This book contains four chapters: “The future of the welfare state: An overview,” by Tony Fahey; “The welfare state across selected OECD countries: How much does it really cost and how good is it in reducing poverty?” by Willem Adema; “Shaping public policy: Is there a place for values-led debate and discourse in the public sphere?” by Daniel O’Connell; and “Shaping the future of the welfare state: What are the challenges and how might they be addressed?” by Sean Healy and Brigid Reynolds. It discusses moving Ireland’s welfare state toward a basic income model. The entire book can be downloaded as a PDF online at:
https://www.socialjustice.ie/content/future-welfare-state-full-texts
by Neil Howard | Oct 18, 2024 | Events, News
Increasing calls for reform to welfare provision have seen growing support for basic income (BI) – the unconditional provision of cash transfers to all. As a result, recent years have seen an exponential increase in the number of pilot experiments of BI, across all parts of the world. However, to date, there has been little discussion of the ethical considerations of such experiments. This paper is the outcome of a workshop whereby BI piloters came together to discuss such ethical considerations, share case studies, and begin to formulate general principles to guide ethical BI experiments. The paper discusses the ethical considerations relevant to the various stages of a pilot experiment and concludes with some general principles: to do-no-harm, maintain respect, dignity, and agency; mitigate power inequalities, promote trust and transparency, and ensure substantive unconditionality. The authors of the paper hope to stimulate discussions towards an ethical protocol for better practice in BI experiments and provide a useful resource to those working on, or interested in, BI research.
To read the report click here.
by Peter Knight | Sep 24, 2024 | News
The FRIBIS Annual Conference 2024 will take place from October 7 to 9. It will
explore partial basic income models and their integration into existing welfare state
systems. The goal is to identify practical approaches to advance the political
feasibility of an unconditional basic income. The conference will focus on topics such
as social security, sustainability and international perspectives. It will also consider
whether partial models can lead to a comprehensive basic income as well as the
insights that can be drawn from previous pilot projects.
Registration is now open. The event will be held both face-to-face in Freiburg and
online in a hybrid format. The preliminary program is available on the conference
website .
Detailed information about the keynotes by Prof. Alexander Spermann, Prof.
Bernhard Neumärker, Prof. Fabio Waltenberg and Prof. Jörg Althammer is provided
below.
More information can be found here.
