Anna Dent: “From utopia to implementation” – (full dissertation)
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Anna Dent, M.Sc., published a Master’s dissertation entitled “From Utopia to Implementation: How Basic Income has progressed from radical idea to legitimate policy solution.”
In it, Dent explores how “utopian and marginal” ideas such as basic income became part of the agendas for policy. The dissertation looks at UBI pilot projects including Finland, the Netherlands, Ontario, and Scotland.
Dent looked at policy change in progress through the dissertation’s “inductive, exploratory approach.” That is, she used case studies, documented analysis, and interviews. The four cases in the research have common aspects.
Many variables close together in time reinforce one another. Basic income was seen as a solution to policy failures, poverty, and unemployment. Each of the four cases – Finland, the Netherlands, Ontario, and Scotland – represent attempts to solve local contexts.
Dent’s research finds the pathway from obscurity to maturity of an idea, as it gains a mainstream positioning.
More information at:
Anna Dent, “From Utopia to Implementation: How Basic Income has progressed from radical idea to legitimate policy solution”, University of Bristol, September 2017
Anna Dent is a consultant working in employment and skills policy and implementation for the public and non-profit sectors. She has particular interests in low-income workers, the changing nature of work, and welfare benefits. She holds an MSc in Public Policy from the University of Bristol, and is a fellow of the RSA (Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacturing and Commerce). She can be contacted via twitter at @anna_b_dent
