by Karl Widerquist | Jan 14, 2012 | News
The deadline for the call for proposals for the 2012 NA-BIG conference has been extended to January 31, 2012. The conference will take place in Toronto on May 3-5, 2012.
CALL FOR PROPOSALS:
The 11th North American Basic Income Guarantee Congress
May 3-5, 2012 at the University of Toronto, on the theme of:
Putting Equality Back on the Agenda:
Basic Income and Other Approaches to Economic Security for All
While Canada, the United States, and many other OECD countries have grown increasingly unequal in recent years, equality has not been on the political agenda. Yet evidence shows that income inequality is accompanied by a range of significant negative consequences. Putting Equality Back on the Agenda will examine this growing trend of inequality and consider the option of a basic income to reduce economic disparity.
Featured speakers will include:
- Erik Olin Wright, Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin (Madison), author of 11 books from The Politics of Punishment: A Critical Analysis of Prisons in America (1973) to American Society: how it really works (2010).
- Richard Wilkinson, Professor Emeritus of Social Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham Medical School and co-author of The Spirit
Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better
- Charles Karelis, Research Professor of Philosophy at The George Washington University and Author of The Persistence of Poverty: Why the Economics of the Well-Off Can’t Help the Poor
- Armine Yalnizyan, Senior Economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
- John Rook, Chair of the National Council of Welfare and CEO of Potential Place Society
- Evelyn Forget, Professor, University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine; and
- Trish Hennessey, Director of Strategic Issues for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
The North American Basic Income Guarantee Congress is a joint Conference of the U.S. and Canadian Basic Income Guarantee Networks. It takes place in Canada and the United States on alternating years. Please consider submitting a proposal – activists, academics and interested citizens welcome!
Scholars, activists, and others are invited to propose papers or presentations, organize panel discussions, or submit posters. Proposals are welcome on the following topics:
- What are the costs of economic disparity (economic, social and political)?
- What are the implications for pursuing (or not pursuing) basic income options?
- What are possible models for generating revenue to sustain a basic income and what are their implications for economic disparity?
- What are the practical issues for implementing a basic income policy and what are their implications for economic disparity?
- What communication and engagement strategies are necessary to raise awareness about economic disparity and basic income in the public sphere?
All points of view are welcome. Anyone interested in presenting, organizing a panel, or displaying a poster should submit an abstract of their proposal to the chair of the organizing committee at: basicincome2012@gmail.com
Please include the following information with your proposal:
1. Name(s)
2. Affiliation(s)
3. Address
4. City, Province/State, Postal/Zip Code, and Country
5. Telephone
6. Email Address(es)
7. Paper/Presentation/Panel/Poster Title
8. Abstract of 50-150 words
(REVISED) DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: January 31st, 2012
Proposals for panel discussions should include a title, topic, and description of the panel and the information above for each participant. If the participants are not presenting formal papers, the title of the paper and abstract may be omitted. Panels should be limited to four presentations.
by Yannick Vanderborght | Dec 26, 2011 | Opinion
European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) invite the Commission, within the framework of its powers, to submit any appropriate proposal on matters where citizens consider that a legal act of the European Union is required for the purpose of implementing the European Treaties. It is necessary that the ECI has received the support of at least one million eligible signatories coming from at least 7 of all Member States.
The ECI only offers a very limited possibility of direct participation of citizens in order to influence the European Union politics, but the ECI gives the chance, to force the EU-Commission to deal with the topic mentioned in the ECI. This is very important considering the basic legal and social situation of the EU. Decisions of the EU-Parliament, where Unconditional Basic Income (UBI) was mentioned as one possibility to prevent poverty which should be checked, have not been taken into account by the European Commission until now, the interests of citizens have been ignored.
Therefore the participants of the Vienna UBI-Symposium in Oct. 2011 (press release and fact sheets) have decided to start an ECI concerning UBI in the year 2012. With this ECI the EU-Commission is requested by the signatories to use up all its means and possibilities to speed up the introduction of a universal, individual, unconditional basic income to ensure people an existence in dignity and with participation in society.
With this ECI we hope that the discussion process concerning a UBI will be enhanced Europe-wide and that the networking between organizations and initiatives for Basic Income will be enforced.
More information to the ECI concerning UBI will be given at the 14th BIEN Congress (Munich, Germany, 14-16 September, 2012).
Ronald Blaschke, Berlin/Dresden, Netzwerk Grundeinkommen (Germany)
www.grundeinkommen.de
Klaus Sambor, Vienna, Attac basic income group (Austria)
https://community.attac.at/grundeinkommen.html
by Karl Widerquist | Dec 7, 2011 | News
Representative Dennis Kucinich introduced the NEED Act into the U.S. House of Representatives several months ago. The act is mostly aimed at reforming the U.S. banking system, but it includes a provision for outlining a plan to create a Citizens Dividend (another name for Basic Income). The exact wording of the relevant section of the bill is, “. . . the Secretary [of the Treasury], in cooperation with the Monetary Authority, shall make recommendations to the Congress for payment of a Citizens Dividend as a tax-free grant to all United States citizens residing in the United States in order to provide liquidity to the banking system at the commencement of this Act, before governmental infrastructure expenditures have had a chance to work into circulation. . . . The Secretary shall maintain a thorough study of the effects of the Citizens Dividend observing its effects on production and consumption, prices, morale, and other economic and fiscal factors.”
An article about the act is online at:
https://www.progress.org/2011/hueylong.htm
The text of the bill is online at:
https://kucinich.house.gov/UploadedFiles/NEED_ACT.pdf
by Karl Widerquist | Nov 10, 2011 | News
CALL FOR PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS
Eleventh Annual North American Basic Income Guarantee Congress
PUTTING EQUALITY BACK ON THE AGENDA:
Basic Income and Other Approaches to Economic Security for All
Thursday May 3rd, to Saturday May 5, 2012
University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
Featured Speakers:
Richard Wilkinson
Co-Author of The Spirit Level: Why More Equal
Societies Almost Always Do Better
Armine Yalnizyan
Senior Economist with the Canadian Centre forPolicy Alternatives
Over the past 30 years, Canada, the United States, and many other OECD countries have grown increasingly unequal. While the rich pull farther and farther ahead, the poor and the middle class are struggling just to maintain their income level. Evidence regarding economic disparity suggests that income inequality is accompanied by a range of significant negative consequences, and that these consequences are present in greater numbers at every income level of a less equal society when compared with a more equal society. In January, the World Economic Forum named economic disparity one of the most significant global risks.
Putting Equality Back on the Agenda will consider three central questions:
1. To what degree is there a common public good in reducing economic disparity among all citizens?
2. Is a basic income the best way to provide this public good?
3. How could a basic income best be structured and funded to meet these goals?
The Eleventh North American Basic Income Guarantee Congress is organized by Basic Income Canada Network in cooperation with the USBIG Network. These North American affiliates of the Basic Income Earth Network promote the option of a basic income, an unconditional government transfer that would provide a basic but decent standard of living to all. The congress brings together academics, students, activists, policy analysts, government officials, low income people, and others interested in exploring the merits of this proposal.
Plenary Speakers Include:
- Richard Wilkinson, Professor Emeritus of Social Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham Medical School and co-author of The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better;
- Armine Yalnizyan, Senior Economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives;
- John Rook, Chair of the National Council of Welfare Senior Associate with Housing Strategies, Inc;
- Evelyn Forget, Professor, University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine; and
- Trish Hennessey, Director of Strategic Issues for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Scholars, activists, and others are invited to propose papers or presentations, organize panel discussions, or submit posters. Proposals are welcome on the following topics:
- What are the costs of economic disparity (economic, social and political)?
- What are the implications for pursuing (or not pursuing) basic income options?
- What are possible models for generating revenue to sustain a basic income and what are their implications for economic disparity?
- What are the practical issues for implementing a basic income policy and what are their implications for economic disparity?
- What communication and engagement strategies are necessary to raise awareness about economic disparity and basic income in the public sphere?
All points of view are welcome. Anyone interested in presenting, organizing a panel, or displaying a poster should submit an abstract of their proposal to the chair of the organizing committee at basicincome2012@gmail.com.
Please include the following information with your proposal:
1. Name(s)
2. Affiliation(s)
3. Address
4. City, Province/State, Postal/Zip Code, and Country
5. Telephone
6. Email Address(es)
7. Paper/Presentation/Panel/Poster Title
8. Abstract of 50-150 words
DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: January 13th, 2012
Proposals for panel discussions should include a title, topic, and description of the panel and the information above for each participant. If the participants are not presenting formal papers, the title of the paper and abstract may be omitted. Panels should be limited to four presentations.
by Karl Widerquist | Sep 11, 2011 | News
On Thursday, August 11, the Future European Network Academy for Social Movements in Freiburg, Germany held a workshop to discuss a European Citizens Initiative (ECI) for the introduction of the guaranteed Basic Income in Europe. Organizers hope to produce a text in a special meeting in October 2011 in Vienna and then begin gathering the signatures of persons which want to sign the text. The start for the ECI is planned for Sept 2012 during the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) congress in Munich. Organizers hope to obtain signatures from 1 million persons.
Information about the initial meeting is online at:
https://www.ena2011.eu/index.php?id=8709&L=1&tx_attacforms[attacList-tt_content-22887][id]=916
Anyone who wants to support the planned ECI, can do so online at:
www.BasicIncomeInitiative.eu.
