by Malcolm Torry | Sep 28, 2020 | News
As no General Assembly could be held this year, as many of the General Assembly functions as possible were conducted by postal ballot.
Executive Committee and other elections
None of the Executive Committee or other posts due for election had more than one candidate standing, and all of the candidates were approved by confirmatory ballots. The Executive Committee and other posts for 2020-21 can be found here.
Resolutions were passed as follows:
Annual accounts and reports were received;
A new internal rule relating to the international Advisory Board was passed (the rule requires the Executive Committee to administer and convene a meeting of the Board if it calls the meeting, and requires the Chair to administer and convene the meeting if the Chair calls it);
The Executive Committee was asked to explore with the Charity Commission whether General Assemblies can be held online in the future if required;
Three options were proposed for the frequency of BIEN congresses: annually; once every two years; and once every two years with regional conference during the intervening years. The decision was for congresses to be held annually.
by Sarath Davala | Sep 6, 2020 | Opinion
I can’t claim to be a friend of David Graeber. I can say I am his fan and that his work has influenced the way I see the world. I met him twice though. I met him first two years ago for dinner at Barb Jacobson’s place where he arrived in a long coat accompanied by a mild fever. He just had some hot tea while we shamelessly gobbled our beers. He came to meet me because I was my friend Barb’s Indian basic income comrade hanging out with her in her London apartment in Charles Rowan House. David sat with us for a long time chatting and answering our questions. Julio Linares his student at LSE and my dearest friend was also with us.
The next day I went to the London School of Economics campus with Julio just to hang out with him in the Anthropology department. We had the Hare Rama Hare Krishna free lunch that they serve to students on the campus. Then we walked around and on an impulse barged into David’s office in the anthropology department. He was working in his sun-lit office. As we entered and greeted him, we accosted a box of his yet unpublished proof copies of Bullshit Jobs. Julio and I picked up one each and bullied him to sign our copies. He was such a comrade he didn’t mind our playful bullying and very affectionately signed the copies. When he signed his unique signature, I asked: ‘David, can you sign this again?’. He smiled and nodded. Being self-proclaimed anarchist, he said something that I will now leave to your imagination.. And we chatted for a while and left him to continue his work.
I cried when I got the news about his death. Megan Coxwell an American poet and Barb’s niece who was also with us that evening with David, sent me a message on FB messenger about his sudden death. I screamed when I saw the message. It was half past eleven at night in India. What made me sob more was just an hour ago I was talking to a group of international students, and I said: ‘ If you want to understand the poor, you need to understand ‘debt’ because they live in perennial debt. It has a curse. Please read David Graeber’s book ‘Debt – the first 5000 years’. He gives a perspective. Let’s talk about the book next time we meet.’
What more can I say?
Each time I think of him I have tears in my eyes. The meeting I am talking about was in 2018 Spring in London. Last year, I desperately called him and was keen to have him at the BIEN Congress in Hyderabad. But he was about to get married and legitimately preoccupied with it.
The last I met him was online when he invited me to speak at a Spectre TV inaugural discussion. It was one of the most enjoyable and deepgoing discussions I have ever had.
I miss you David. I was hoping to come and see you this winter. God bless your wife and the rest of your family. What more can I say?
by BIEN | Aug 15, 2020
The 2020 BIEN General Assembly has been cancelled, with the permission of the UK’s Charity Commission, because the coronavirus pandemic has caused the cancellation of the 2020 BIEN Congress. The Executive Committee has arranged for as much as possible of the business that would have been done at the General Assembly to be done by postal ballot. All members of BIEN will be sent ballot papers to their registered email address by the end of August.
Papers relating to the ballots, and to the General Assembly if it had been held:
Minutes of the BIEN General Assembly 2019
Chair’s report
BIEN 2020 financial report
BIEN annual report and accounts 2019 (submitted by the Executive Committee to the Charity Commission)
BIEN half year accounts to 30th June 2020
BIEN Secretary’s report
BIEN Research Manager Report 2020
BIEN Social Outreach Report 2020
BIEN Volunteer Recruitment Report 2020
BIEN news service and website report
Paper on the frequency of congresses ( – the result of a consultation in preparation for the postal ballot to be held on the frequency of congresses)
For information
Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) Charitable Incorporated Organisation constitution
BIEN internal rules 2019
by Courtney Hallink | Jul 28, 2020 | News
There is a translation of this article into French
On 21 April 2020, President Ramaphosa announced a 500 Billion Rand relief package in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The package included top-ups for existing cash transfer recipients and the introduction of an emergency ‘coronavirus grant’. The emergency grant is available to unemployed individuals who are not eligible for the contributory Unemployment Insurance Fund and informal workers who are unable to work during the lockdown.
The announcement of the relief package followed the submission of an open letter to President Ramaphosa by a group of 75 economists and academics calling for the adoption of a Universal Basic Income (UBI). South Africa already had an impressive system of cash transfers in place prior to the pandemic and therefore has the infrastructure required in order to get people cash. Over 30 per cent of the population and approximately 44 per cent of households receive a government-funded cash transfer each month. Despite the impressive reach of South Africa’s social grant system, it has historically excluded economically active adults. Under the emergency grant, working-age adults receive R350 a month for a total of 6 months, beginning in May 2020.
On 13 July, the Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu announced that the government is intending to implement a basic income grant (BIG) from October 2020, the last month the coronavirus grant is available. A discussion document by the African National Congress (ANC) outlined that the government would adopt a graduated approach to implement the proposed universal grant. One of the first steps would be to provide the grant to the economically active and unemployed between the ages of 19 and 59, the same group that is now receiving the emergency coronavirus grant. This includes approximately 13 million individuals.
The final step in the graduated approach would be a universal BIG that would be provided to all South African residents between the ages of 19 and 59, approximately 33 million people. The ‘universal’ BIG would add on to the country’s existing grant system rather than replacing the social grants already in place (including the CSG for individuals under the age of 19 and the Old Age Pension for individuals over the age of 59). It would effectively create a universal income for working-age adults while keeping a targeted minimum income guarantee for individuals 18 and under and 60 and over. The proposed BIG therefore does not meet the requirements of a universal basic income as defined by BIEN. Nevertheless, it is a notable step towards increasing income security for working-age adults in South Africa.
The announcement for a BIG has come after several failed attempts to extend the country’s social grant system to working-age adults over the last two decades. The first was a proposal for a BIG made by a government-appointed social protection committee in the early 2000s. The second was the push for a Job Seekers’ Grant by the ANC in 2012, which would have provided cash transfers to the working-age population in order to help people look for work. This too made little headway and the proposal was eventually scrapped.
The BIG discussion document drafted by the ANC outlines that the BIG is a response to the economic fallout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet Isobel Frye at the Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute shared that the BIG has been under discussion for approximately 10 months, far before the onset of the pandemic. At this point it is unclear whether the BIG will become a permanent feature of South Africa’s social grant system or if it will act as a temporary buffer while the country’s economy catches up after the setback from the COVID-19 pandemic.
by BIEN | Jul 26, 2020
The origins: an idea, a collective, a prize. In the Autumn of 1983, Paul-Marie Boulanger, Philippe Defeyt and Philippe Van Parijs, three young researchers attached to the departments of demography, economics and philosophy of the University of Louvain (Belgium) decided to set up a working group in order to explore the implications of an extremely simple, unconventional but attractive idea which Van Parijs had proposed to call, in a paper circulated in December 1982, “allocation universelle”. The group chose as a collective pseudonym Collectif Charles Fourier. Its main output was a special issue of the Brussels monthly La Revue nouvelle (April 1985). But along the way, it won a prize, with a provocative presentation of the idea and its putative consequences, in an essay competition on the future of work organised by the Brussels-based King Baudouin Foundation.
The first meeting. With the money it thus unexpectedly earned, the Collectif Charles Fourier decided to organise a meeting to which they would invite a number of people to whom the idea of an Unconditional Basic Income had, they gradually discovered, independently occurred. This meeting became the first international conference on Basic Income, convened by Philippe Van Parijs in the university town of Louvain-la-Neuve on 4-6 September 1986, with sixty participants individually invited. It turned out to be quite an extraordinary event, with many seemingly lonely fighters suddenly discovering a whole bunch of kin spirits. They included, among others, Gunnar Adler-Karlsson, Jan-Otto Andersson, Yoland Bresson, Paul de Beer, Alexander de Roo, Rosheen Callender, Nic Douben, Marie-Louise Duboin, Gérard Roland, Ian Gough, Pierre Jonckheere, Bill Jordan, Greetje Lubbi, Annie Miller, Edwin Morley-Fletcher, Claus Offe, Hermione Parker, Riccardo Petrella, David Purdy, Guy Standing, Robert van der Veen, Georg Vobruba and Tony Walter.
A network is born. At the final session of the conference, several participants expressed the wish that some more permanent association be created, with the task of publishing a regular newsletter and organising regular conferences. Guy Standing proposed calling this association Basic Income European Network, which gathered an easy consensus, since no one could beat the beauty of the corresponding acronym (BIEN, which means “good” in French and Spanish). Its purpose, later enshrined in its Statutes adopted in 1988, was formulated as follows: “BIEN aims to serve as a link between individuals and groups interested in Basic Income, i.e. an income unconditionally granted to all on an individual basis, without means test or work requirement, and to foster informed discussion on this topic throughout Europe”. Peter Ashby (National Council for Voluntaty organisations), Claus Offe (then at the University of Bremen) and Guy Standing (then at the International Labour Organisation) became BIEN’s first chairpersons. Walter Van Trier (then at the University of Antwerp) became secretary, Alexander de Roo (then parliamentary assistant at the European Parliament) treasurer, and Philippe Van Parijs (University of Louvain) newsletter editor, subsequently combined with secretary. Ashby and Offe left as co-chairs in 1988 and were succeeded by Edwin Morley-Fletcher (1988-1998) and Ilona Ostner (1996-2004), jointly with Guy Standing (1986-2008).
Lifeline of the network: the newsletter. In the pre-internet era, the regular dispatching of a printed newsletter formed the very core of the existence of a network. From 1988 to July 2001, BIEN published a printed Newsletter that was sent to fee-paying members three times per year (36 issues). In order to facilitate the management of the subscriptions, the annual membership was replaced by a life membership formula in the Autumn of 1998, The emergence of electronic communication made it possible to intensify and widen the spreading of information. From January 2000 onwards, BIEN News flashes were sent several times per year to a large number of subscribers far beyond BIEN’s membership (138 issues between January 2000 and January 2020, when BIEN adopted a new style of Bulletin). In 1996, BIEN also inaugurated a website. Initially, it did little more than making newsletters and newsflashes available for downloading. It later grew rapidly to provide a wealth of information and resources on Basic Income and the Basic Income movement.
Congresses of growing scope. Starting with the founding conference, BIEN organized a congress every second year, with a growing and increasingly diverse set of participants:
- Louvain-la-Neuve, BE (UCLouvain, 4-6 September 1986, convenor: Philippe Van Parijs)
- Antwerp, BE (Universitaire Faculteiten St Ignatius, 22-24 September 1988, convenor: Walter Van Trier)
- Florence, IT (European University Institute, 19-20 September 1990, convenor: Edwin Morley-Fletcher)
- Paris, FR (Université de Paris-Val de Marne, 18-19 September 1992, convenors: Yoland Bresson & & Pierre Lavagne)
- London, UK (Goldsmith College, 8-10 September 1994, convenor: Richard Clements)
- Vienna, AT (United Nations Centre, 12-14 September 1996, convenors: Lieselotte Wohlgenannt, Michael Tepser & Bernd Marin)
- Amsterdam, NL (Universiteit van Amsterdam, 10-12 September 1998, convenors: Robert J. van der Veen, Loek Groot & Paul de Beer)
- Berlin, DE (Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin), 6-7 October 2000, convenor: Claus Offe)
- Geneva, CH (International Labour Office, 13-14 September 2002, convenor: Guy Standing)
- Barcelona, ES (Forum Universal de las Culturas, 19-20 September 2004, convenors: David Casassas & Jose Noguera)
Archive from the early days. Contributions to some of the congresses were published in a number of collective volumes:
- Anne G. Miller ed. Proceedings of the First International Conference on Basic Income (Louvain-la-Neuve, September 1986). Antwerp: BIEN & London: BIRG, 1988.
- Walter Van Trier ed. Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Basic Income. (Antwerp, September 1988). Antwerp: BIEN & London: BIRG, 1990
- Philippe Van Parijs ed., Arguing For Basic Income. Ethical Foundations for a Radical Reform. London & New York: Verso, 1992.
- Robert J. van der Veen & Loek Groot eds., Basic Income on the Agenda. Policy Options and Political Feasibility, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2000.
- Guy Standing, ed., Promoting Income Security as a Right. Europe and North America, London: Anthem Press, 2004.
Along with a great many other books, papers and reports on Basic Income from before the internet era, the papers presented at BIEN’s first few congresses are kept in BIEN’s Archive at UCLouvain’s Hoover Chair of Economic and Social Ethics, 3 Place Montesquieu, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
From a European to a worldwide network. By 2004, 20% of the online subscribers and 25% of BIEN’s life members were from outside Europe. Pressure therefore increased to turn BIEN from a European into a worldwide network. The development of internet communication and of low-cost air travel made this option more realistic. And in January 2004, President Lula signed into law Senator Eduardo Suplicy’s proposal for a “basic citizenship income” for all Brazilians. This finished convincing the sceptics who thought that an Unconditional basic income could only make sense in European countries with a developed welfare state. At the September 2004 congress in Barcelona, BIEN’s executive committee proposed to change the name of the network from “Basic Income European Network” to “Basic Income Earth Network”. This proposal was adopted by BIEN’s General Assembly on 20 September 2004.
Structuring the movement. The newly elected committee undertook to modify and expand the statutes (until then no more than a single page), a new version of which was approved by the General Assembly in 2008. Owing to the growth of the network, the size of the executive committee had to increase, with the managing of the website gaining in importance. The committee of the expanded network was successively co-chaired or chaired by Guy Standing and Eduardo Suplicy (2004-2008), Ingrid van Niekerk (2008-2014), Karl Widerquist (2008-2017), Louise Haagh (2014-2020) and Sarath Davala (2020-). An Advisory Board that includes all past committee members is chaired by Philippe Van Parijs (2004-). In May 2016, the position of general manager was created, the incumbent of which is not elected by the General Assembly but appointed by the Executive Committee. Malcolm Torry has held this position since its creation. In 2016, the network was officialized as an international non-profit organization (AISBL) under Belgian law and two years later turned into a charitable incorporated organization (CIO) under British law, with its official seat moved from Brussels to London, and the statutes amended accordingly.
From biennial to annual congresses. As a result of becoming a worldwide network, BIEN started recognizing national networks outside Europe as affiliates and decided in 2004 to start alternating non-European and European locations for the congress. In 2016, given the increasing popularity of the idea of basic income across the world, it decided to start organizing a congress every year instead of every second year. The Basic Income Earth Network met in the following places:
- Capetown, ZA (University of Capetown, 3-4 November 2006, convenor: Ingrid van Niekerk)
- Dublin, IE (University College, Dublin, 21-22 June 2008, convenors: Sean Healy & Brigid Reynold)
- Sao Paulo, BR (Universidade de São Paulo, 30 June-2 July 2010, convenors: Eduardo Suplicy & Fabio Waltenberg)
- Ottobrunn, DE (Wolf-Ferrari Haus, 14-16 September 2012, convenor: Dorothee Schulte-Basta)
- Montreal, CA (MacGill University, 27-29 June 2014, convenors: Jurgen De Wispelaere & Daniel Weinstock)
- Seoul, KR (Sogang University, 7-9 July 2016, convenor: Hyosang Ahn)
- Lisbon, PT (Lisbon School of Economics, 26-27 September 2017, convenor: Roberto Merrill)
- Tampere, FI (University of Tampere, 24-26 July 2018, convenor: Jurgen De Wispelaere)
- Hyderabad, IN (NALSAR University, 23-26 August 2019, convenor: Sarath Davala)
[20. Brisbane, AU (University of Queensland, 28-30 September 2020, convenors: Troy Henderson & Greg Marston): postponed to 2022 because of the covid19 pandemic]
21. Glasgow, UK (Online, 18-21 August 2021, convenor: Mike Danson)
Providing enthusiasm, imagination, mutual understanding and tenacity keep feeding the worldwide basic income movement, this is only the beginning of BIEN’s history.
Philippe Van Parijs
