Political Activism and Basic Income Guarantee: International Experiences and Perspectives Past, Present, and Near Future

315 Pages·2020·4.182 MB·English

by  Richard K. Caputo, Larry Liu

EXPLORING THE BASIC INCOME GUARANTEE
Political Activism and
Basic Income Guarantee
International Experiences
and Perspectives Past,
Present, and Near Future
Edited by
Richard K. Caputo
Larry Liu
Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee
Series Editor
Karl Widerquist
Georgetown University in Qatar
Doha, Qatar
Basic income is one of the most innovative, powerful, straightforward,
and controversial proposals for addressing poverty and growing inequali-
ties.ABasicIncomeGuarantee(BIG)isdesignedtobeanunconditional,
government-insured guarantee that all citizens will have enough income
to meet their basic needs. The concept of basic, or guaranteed, income is
a form of social provision and this series examines the arguments for and
against it from an interdisciplinary perspective with special focus on the
economic and social factors. By systematically connecting abstract philo-
sophical debates over competing principles of BIG to the empirical anal-
ysis of concrete policy proposals, this series contributes to the fields of
economics,politics,socialpolicy,andphilosophyandestablishesatheoret-
ical framework for interdisciplinary research. It will bring together inter-
national and national scholars and activists to provide a comparative look
at the main efforts to date to pass unconditional BIG legislation across
regionsoftheglobeandwillidentifycommonalitiesanddifferencesacross
countriesdrawinglessonsforadvancingsocialpoliciesingeneralandBIG
policies in particular.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14981
·
Richard K. Caputo Larry Liu
Editors
Political Activism
and Basic Income
Guarantee
International Experiences and Perspectives Past,
Present, and Near Future
Editors
Richard K. Caputo Larry Liu
Yeshiva University Princeton University
New York, NY, USA Princeton, NJ, USA
ISSN 2662-3803 ISSN 2662-3811 (electronic)
Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee
ISBN 978-3-030-43903-3 ISBN 978-3-030-43904-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43904-0
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer
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now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc.
in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such
namesareexemptfromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreefor
general use.
Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinforma-
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the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with
respecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeen
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The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
From Richard to his wife Mary Cianni
From Larry to his parents, Kuo Chun Liu and Mei Ling Liu,
and his brother, Nicky Liu
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the sponsors, panelists, and participants of the
New Directions in Basic Income Workshop, co-sponsored by Poverty
Solutions at the University of Michigan and the Economic Security
Project & Stanford Basic Income Lab, held May 18–20, 2018, in
Ann Arbor, MI: Co-organizers Juliana Bidadanure (Stanford Univer-
sity),TaylorJoIsenberg(ManagingDirector,EconomicSecurityProject),
MichaelLewis(Professor,HunterCollege),ElizabethRhodes(YCombi-
nator Research), and H. Luke Shaefer (Professor of Social Work, Univer-
sity of Michigan); Keynotes and Panelists: Chris Hughes (Co-Chair,
Economic Security Project), Dylan Matthews (Senior Correspondent,
Vox.com), Samuel Hammond (Poverty and Welfare Analyst, Niskanen
Center), Olga Lenczewska (Ph.D. Candidate, Stanford Basic Income
Lab), Avshalom M. Schwartz (Ph.D. Candidate, Stanford Basic Income
Lab), Yannick Vanderborght (Professor of Political Science, Universite
Saint-Louis—Bruxelles),ElizabethRhodes(ResearchDirector,YCombi-
nator Research), Evelyn Forget (Professor of Economics and Commu-
nity Health Sciences, University of Manitoba), Dorian T. Warren (Pres-
ident, Center for Community Action, Co-Chair, Economic Security
Project), Joshua Rivera (U-M Poverty Solutions), Catherine Thomas
(Ph.D. Candidate, Stanford Basic Income Lab), and Karl Widerquist
(Professor of Philosophy, Georgetown University); and Participants:
Jennet Arcara (Ph.D. Candidate, UC Berkeley), Ediana Balleroni
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
(Ph.D. Candidate, University of Coimbra), Matthew Bruckner (Asso-
ciate Professor of Law, Howard University), Yu-Ling Chang (Assis-
tant Professor, UC Berkeley), James Davis (Director of Field Research,
UBI Taiwan), Sam Han (Ph.D. Candidate, Columbia University), Rob
Hartley (Research Scientist, Columbia University), Emily Hentschke
(Ph.D. Candidate, UC—Santa Cruz), Natalie Holmes (Ph.D. Candi-
date, UC Berkley), Anupama Jacob (Associate Professor, Azusa Pacific
University), Joseph Kane (Ph.D. Student, University of Massachusetts),
Thomas Klemm (BA Candidate, Eastern Michigan University), Ting-
An Lin (Ph.D. Candidate, Rutgers University), Alexandre Malenfant
(Masters Candidate, University of Tampere), Corbin Muck (Masters
Candidate, University of Washington), Dr. Leonidas Murembya (Assis-
tant Professor, Michigan State University), Tyler Prochazka (Masters
Candidate, National Chengchi University), Pablo D. Ramos-Cruz
(Ph.D. Candidate, York University), Sarah Reibstein (Ph.D. Candi-
date,PrincetonUniversity),StephanSchultz(MastersCandidate,Univer-
sity of Washington), Shoshana Shapiro (Ph.D. Student, University of
Michigan), Bina Shrimali (Senior Researcher, Federal Reserve Bank of
San Francisco), Kunmi Sobowale (Psychiatry Resident, Yale Univer-
sity), Rian Watt (Policy Analyst, Abt Associates), Stacia West (Assis-
tant Professor, University of Tennessee), Jessica Wiederspan (Researcher,
Y Combinator), and Yifan Zhu (Ph.D. Candidate, University of
Delaware).
Praise for PoliticalActivismandBasic
IncomeGuarantee
“There will never be a basic income guarantee without basic income
activists:theyaretheoneswhowilleventuallyturnthisattractiveidealinto
a viable policy option. They gather support from civil society and track
opportunities to push basic income onto the political agenda. They must
not be ignored, and their experiences clearly deserve closer scrutiny. This
volumeisthereforeaverywelcomeandtimelyadditiontotheexpanding
literature on the promising and radical idea of providing everyone with
the material means to live a free and fulfilling life. It will not only give its
readers food for thought; it will also give them reasons for hope.”
—Yannick Vanderborght, Co-Author, Basic Income. A Radical Proposal
for a Free Society and a Sane Economy
“Probably the pinnacle of distributive justice is the idea of unconditional
basic income (UBI). UBI was successfully tested in many parts of the
world.Yet,itisinsufficientlystudied,anditfacesmassiveoppositionfrom
conservative politicians and affluent members of society. Caputo and Liu
assembled an impressive array of contributors from many parts of the
world where each chapter adds to our knowledge. Together they build
acaseforpoliticalmobilizationthatcanleadtowidespreadunconditional
basic income schemes. This book is a must for any social policy student
and activist.”
—Ram A. Cnaan, Professor of Social Welfare, University of Pennsylvania
ix
x PRAISE FOR POLITICAL ACTIVISM AND BASIC INCOME GUARANTEE
“Scientific evidence for the efficacy of Basic Income continues to grow
but profound social change requires more than science. Until we under-
stand the politics of social transformation, Basic Income will remain just
another politically contentious idea. The contributors to this ground-
breaking volume assess concrete strategies of political advocacy.”
—Evelyn L. Forget, Author, Basic Income for Canadians: The Key to a
Healthier, Happier, More Secure Life for All