by Kate McFarland | Jan 17, 2017 | News
Juliana Bidadanure, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University, has designed a graduate seminar on the philosophy of basic income, which she is currently teaching for the winter term.
According to the official course description, the seminar will address questions such as the following: “[I]s giving people cash no strings attached desirable and just? Would basic income promote a more gender equal society through the remuneration of care-work, or would it risk further entrenching the position of women as caregivers? Would alternative policies be more successful (such as job guarantees, stakeholder grants, or a negative income tax)? How can we test out basic income? What makes for a reliable and ethical basic income pilot?”
The seminar will analyze and critique basic income from multiple perspectives in political theory, including feminism, liberalism, republicanism, communism, and libertarianism. Initial readings include classic works by Philippe van Parijs and responses from his critics. Subsequent sessions will address contemporary philosophical work on basic income, as well as potential alternatives, such as job guarantees. Additional topics include empirical work on the health (and other) effects of basic income, the role of automation in motivating basic income, and basic income in relation to gender and racial justice, among others.
Explaining why she was inspired to develop the course, Bidadanure says, “It has been my dream for a while to teach a class on the Philosophy of Basic Income. First, because I am committed to the idea that everyone has a right to an income and because I think that UBI deserves serious treatment; second, because I think it is a great lens through which one can teach Political Philosophy. There is great writing for and against basic income from within pretty much each and every school of political thought. And so my idea was to introduce students of a variety of disciplines to a broad range of writers in political philosophy by focusing on UBI. Given the recent interest in Basic Income in the US, including by computer scientists, engineers and economists, I thought that the timing was right to launch the class!”
On February 8, a special panel on basic income experiments will be held in connection with the seminar.
The panel will feature guests Guy Standing (Professorial Research Associate at SOAS, University of London; BIEN co-founder), Elizabeth Rhodes (Research Director of Y Combinator’s basic income experiment), and Joe Huston (Regional Director at GiveDirectly). Standing, Rhodes, and Huston will speak about basic income research in (respectively) India, Oakland, and Kenya. The event will be presented as a roundtable discussion and open to the public. More information on this event is available here.
Reactions from Students
Although housed in the Department of Philosophy, the seminar spans topics of interest to students in many disciplines. The seminar group is constituted by 10 enrolled participants as well as a further 10 auditors, comprising students of philosophy, political science, psychology, economics, computer science, engineering, and business.
Asked about his interest in the seminar, one participant, a PhD student in Economics, remarks, “Basic income is such a hot topic, but I’ve not come across much rigorous academic thinking on the topic, in any discipline. I now discover there is a whole bunch in philosophy, which I was unaware of and which is really exciting!”
Commenting on his reactions after the first session, he adds, “It’s awesome that the class is about a third economists, a third philosophers, and a third computer scientists – it seems like the venue for a truly exciting exchange of views; and the arguments for and against basic income are so much richer and more diverse than this economist expected!”
Another student in the seminar, Sage, is currently working towards a masters in Symbolic Systems while also finishing an undergraduate degree in Computer Science. Her interest in the topic derives from her work in the technology sector:
“My masters thesis is a work of political philosophy analyzing the responsibility of tech companies to help those in poverty. I am interested in Universal Basic Income because it has grown increasingly popular in the US due to the fear that one day all of our jobs will be completed by robots. I am interested in exploring the other reasons for Universal Basic Income and determining if it is a viable choice in the U.S. given our trajectory in the tech sector. I was impressed by how diverse our class was by region, interest, and background. Having the opportunity to discuss topics in basic income with students so different from me is a fantastic opportunity to round out my research.”
Anusha, a graduate student in Computer Science says her love for data structures (especially the top view of binary tree) made her focus on natural language processing and computer vision. She became interested in the seminar due to her background in AI:
“I was really interested in this seminar because Universal Basic Income has been receiving a lot of attention lately, especially in the Computer Science and AI communities, due to the potential impacts of automation on the future of work. There have also been a lot of discussions around the joint responsibilities of Silicon Valley and policymakers to help those whose jobs are most at risk. I’m really excited about this seminar because it addresses Universal Basic Income from several different perspectives, and I’m eager to learn about the various arguments for and against UBI from those standpoints.”
Nishith, an undergraduate senior in Computer Science who works on computer vision and reinforcement learning, became interested in UBI following a discussion of the economic impact of self-driving trucks and President-Elect Donald Trump’s emphasis on bringing manufacturing jobs back to America. He is excited by Bidadanure’s seminar, adding, “I was surprised to learn that discussions about UBI need not revolve around automation (as they do in Europe) and had a great time talking about the potential benefits and pitfalls of this proposed policy [at the first class meeting].”
Dr. Bidadanure, who holds a PhD in Political Philosophy from the University of York, has research interests at the intersection of philosophy and public policy.
She has written on the theory and practice of equality, including, in particular, age-group justice and what it means to treat young people as equals. She has written on the specific arguments to give a basic income to young adults as well as on hybrids of basic income and basic capital.
Bidadanure plans to teach an undergraduate course on basic income at Stanford in the next academic year. She is also working to launch a basic income research initiative at Stanford as part of the Center for Ethics in Society in 2017.
Reviewed by Genevieve Shanahan.
Information and photo provided by Juliana Bidadanure.
by Guest Contributor | May 5, 2016 | News
Sunday #41 March (April 10th), place de la République in Paris. Hundreds of people were present to discuss the basic income and other topics related to employment. The French Movement for Basic Income attended the meeting thanks to the invitation of the #NuitDebout movement. This citizens’ movement was created following demonstrations against the proposed French labour reforms and has since organized several popular gatherings in Paris as well as in dozens of towns in France and abroad.
Employment, housing, refugees, feminism, participatory democracy, constitution. Many subjects, concerns and values were discussed every day at the Place de la République since March 31. These discussions demonstrated the real concerns of citizens without the filter of the media. With the revelations from the Panama Papers, public institutions, particularly political parties, do not seem to inspire much confidence.
#MFRB Debout
On this #41 March (lets accept this new calendar!) two dozens of MFRB members from all over France have met on the Place de la République to take part on the first day of the convergence of struggles. The atmosphere was rather cordial. Questions and answers were exchanged with passers-by all day long. A conference was held with the MFRB, the Réseau Salariat network and the Economist and basic income supporter Baptiste Mylondo.
Workshops, co-facilitated by members of the MFRB and the network Réseau salariat, have enabled hundreds of people to discuss the basic income, living wage and on matters related to work as well as education, equal opportunities, free time, and many other topics. By late afternoon, a debate enabled participants to better understand these topics.
Conference about work, basic income and living wage
At the beginning of the afternoon, Nicole Teke, international coordinator of the MFRB, introduced the conference presenting the French Movement for a Basic Income, the notion of basic income and how the idea is currently progressing in France, Europe and the world. Past experiments in Brazil, Namibia and India were also presented, the results of which in terms of health, schooling, women’s emancipation and economic recovery are very convincing.
Benoît Boritz, member of the CGT trade-union (General Confederation of Labour), journalist and author of the book Coopératives contre capitalism (“Cooperatives against capitalism”) has presented examples of companies that are self-managed by their employees in forms of cooperatives (SCOP). This form of organisation has been gaining ground since 2010, as a number of companies have chosen it for its greater capacity to ability adapt to an evolving economy. The SCOP often aims at integrating ecological issues in their production and daily operations. Since 2013 the SCOPs’ number has grown considerably, and today they employ about 51,000 workers.
Following this, Baptiste Mylondo, member of Utopia and teacher in economy and political philosophy presented his counterproposal to the labour reforms, in five articles:
Article 1: Recognize everyone’s work by giving everyone the status of producers and contributors, whether one is unemployed or employed, active or considered inactive.
Article 2: Free work from the constraint of employment. “We all work every day as volunteers in a large organisation called society” said Baptiste Mylondo.
Article 3: Establish a sufficient citizen’s income to a level equivalent to the poverty line calculated at 60% of median income, i.e. 1,000€.
Article 4: Set up a cooperative working model to free us from the grip of capitalism and exploitation.
Article 5: Free our lives of work’s temporal control by a reduction of working time and the creation of an unconditional right to chosen part-time work.
In conclusion, Baptiste Mylondo specified his thoughts and suggested what could be the first reform to be associated with the introduction of a basic income:
“I speak about a sufficient income, not a minimum income. About a space of acceptable inequalities. To escape poverty and exploitation, to create a society where everyone can participate in democratic life. I am in favor of a ratio of 1: 4 between the lowest income and the highest one.”
Finally, Stéphane Simard, member of the network Réseau Salariat, presented the living wage project – different from basic income, even though some similarities can be noticed. Starting from 18 years old, this life-long living wage is based primarily on the evolution of labour in the twentieth century, mainly through the creation of the general scheme of Social Security in 1945. The amount could increase by validation of qualifications – in regard to the individual’s contribution to the society in the previous years. This living wage would be financed through an overhaul of the contributions’ system. Each company would contribute with 60% of its added value to the salary fund, meaning the same 1250 billion now paid for salaries, and another part would be paid into an investments office that would be dedicated to financing projects as an alternative to bank loans.
Convergence of struggles
Dissociation of labour and income, the need to change subordination to work, the willingness to recognize everyone’s contribution to the common good, the recognition of social utility, the interest to the SCOP initiatives… The convergence of struggles supported by the #NuitDebout from the very beginning of the movement has definitely enabled basic income to take a prominent place in the public debate.
To see the photos of the event: https://www.flickr.com/photos/revenudebase/
Collectively written by the MFRB – translated by Celine Le Carpentier
by Guest Contributor | Mar 8, 2016 | Opinion
By Liane Gale and Ann Withorn
for the Basic Income Woman Action Group (BIWAG)
Since 1909, International Women’s Day has been a day for recognizing women’s economic, political and social achievements. Yet over the past century, March 8 Women’s Day celebrations have revealed tensions between feminists, socialists and anarchists about the meaning of women’s roles in society. Feminists saw full equality through equal participation in the polity as the major way women would gain power. Socialists argued that full inclusion of women as workers within a self-aware proletariat was the way for women to achieve solidarity, and therefore power. Anarchists envisioned women’s liberation as based on learning new ways of living and loving, so that a new way organizing society would become possible.
Today, we view the Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) as a means to transcend such historic differences. BIG offers a way for women to achieve basic economic security outside of the labor market. It firmly denies that only certain activities done outside the home and community should be rewarded, much less be the chief source of one’s respect and social value in society. With a meaningful basic income as a secure base for living, women everywhere should be more able to live a life without fear, and of their own design.
If basic income could fundamentally change the lives and fates of women and girls, and with it the fate of humanity, then why is this not widely discussed in the community? One case in point is the appeal by Martha Beéry to the national media agency in Switzerland to invoke bias towards male views in a panel on basic income on national television in 2012 that only included men. The decision was in her favor, but the inclusion of women’s points of view in regards to basic income has been slow both in mainstream and social media. Despite this, recently we have seen a welcome surge of contributions about the economic and social realities of women, that often offer basic income as a solution to some of the disadvantages women face.
These analyses include calls to elevate the value of care work and other contributions to society (such as community work), which are underpaid or not paid at all, and as a result do not elicit much respect by a society which largely equates money-making abilities with importance and status. Organizations, such as the Care Revolution Netzwerk, that is active in German-speaking countries, Mothers at Home Matter from the UK, and initiators and supporters of the “Leap Manifesto: A Call For a Canada Based on Caring for the Earth and One Another” are all grassroots efforts to change the current narrative. With the Basic Income Woman Action Group (BIWAG), we strive to contribute to this international effort. To that end, we are facilitating national and international conference calls with interested members and maintain a BIWAG Facebook Group.
The program of the 15th Annual North American Basic Income Congress in Winnipeg, Canada (May 12-15) is especially attentive to women’s concerns and to enhancing women’s roles in the movement. More than half of the planning committee members are women. Dr. Felicia Kornbluh, professor of Gender Studies, writer, welfare rights advocate and member of the Vermont Commission on Women, will give a keynote on “Two, Three, Many Precariats: Basic Income and the Fight for Gender, Class and Disability Justice”. Two other keynotes will also be given by women. At least sixteen panel presentations and speakers will be directly addressing links between basic income and women. In addition, three BIWAG sponsored roundtables will allow serious time for discussion of “Women’s Roles within the Basic Income Movement”, “Basic Income and the Care-Centered Economy”, and “Basic Income’s Role in Ending Violence Against Women.” A panel on the Color of Poverty and speakers from the Aboriginal Council of Winnipeg will also bring much immediacy to the event.
The 2016 theme of International Women’s Day includes the goals of ending all forms of discrimination and violence against all women and girls everywhere, and we believe that a basic income would be a firm step into the direction of a more humane world for all.
To learn more about BIWAG or to get involved, please join our Facebook group or contact us at withorn.ann@gmail.com or liane.gale@gmail.com.
Recent contributions on women and basic income, and closely related issues and causes:
Nicole M. Aschoff, “Feminism Against Capitalism,” Jacobin, February 29, 2016.
Allissa Battistoni, “Why Women’s Work is Key to a Just and Sustainable Future,” Feministing, August 6, 2015.
Alyssa Battistoni, “Why Establishing a Guaranteed Income for All Can Help Prevent Environmental Catastrophe,”, Alternet (reprinted from Jacobin), February 19, 2014.
Madeleine Bunting, “Who Will Care for Us in the Future? Watch Out for the Rise of the Robots,” The Guardian, March 6, 2016.
Petra Buskins, “‘Flexibility’ Won’t Stop Women Retiring In Poverty,” New Matilda, October 30, 2015.
Liane Gale and Ann Withorn, “Basic Income Women Action Group”, Google Hangout, hosted by Marlen Vargas Del Razo, Living Income Guaranteed, Streamed Live, August 23, 2013.
Claire Cain Miller, “How Society Pays When Women’s Work is Unpaid,” New York Times, February 22, 2016.
Helen Ninnies, “As Rental Prices Rise, Women Stay in Bad Relationships to Survive,” Broadly, February 20, 2016.
Vanessa Olorenshaw, “Mothers at Home Matter and the Politics of Mothering – When Maternal Care is Taboo and Politicians Have No Clue,” Huffington Post U.K., March 17, 2015.
Meera Lee Patel: “Idea: All Work Deserves Pay,” Fast Company, January 20, 2016.
Ina Praetorius: “The Care-Centered Economy: Rediscovering What Has Been Taken for Granted,” e-book published by Heinrich Böll Stiftung, April 7, 2015.
Judith Shulevitz: “It’s Payback Time for Women,” New York Times, January 8, 2016.
by Toru Yamamori | Feb 8, 2016 | News
Wisconsin Public Radio, a local radio in the U.S., featured UBI in its program called ‘The Kathleen Dunn Show’. The main guest was Judith Shulevitz, a journalist who recently wrote a column on feminism and UBI at the New York times. The voices from listeners on the topic were also on air. The 50 minute program can be listened to online here at:
https://www.wpr.org/feminist-case-universal-basic-income
(Last accessed on 25th January)
by Toru Yamamori | Sep 21, 2015 | News
Feminist Philosophy Workshop, which will be held on 9th October, at the University of Hamburg, invites Anca Gheaus to speak on ‘Feminism and Basic Income’.
Gheaus works at the university of Sheffield. Her past publication on feminism and basic income can be accessed here.
This is an academic workshop and registration is required. The contact for registration is Amanda Cawston (amanda.causton@cantab.net).
The workshop will take place in the Philosophy Faculty (Room 1072, 10th floor of Von-Melle-Park 6, 20146 Hamburg). The detail can be found here.
