Independence, Propertylessness, and Basic Income

Widerquist, Karl

doi:10.1057/9781137313096

Cited by 87 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…However, he does not endorse the income rights attached to stronger notions of self-ownership according to which the taxation of any economic returns from the voluntary exercise of one’s talents (or voluntary transfer of such resources) counts as a direct violation of freedom (Van Parijs, 1995: 9, 26f. ; for a similar view see Widerquist, 2013: 30ff.). This contrasts sharply with the views of traditional left libertarians who, in virtue of their commitment to strong self-ownership, are confined to a much more modest category of external resources when specifying permissible or just forms of taxation.…”

Section: What Is Libertarian Resourcism?mentioning

confidence: 76%

“…However, several recent articulations of such theories (e.g. Lovett, 2010; Widerquist, 2013) share an equally strong commitment to (c), i.e. that there is a firm and profound link between individual freedom and unconditional cash transfers.…”

Section: The Insufficiency Of Basic Income As a Tool For Social Empowmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Still, he argues forcefully that it can play a key role in such an agenda:government delivery of resources [alongside various measures for competitive labour markets] that empower workers in labor-market choices can remain largely aloof from relations within the firm, trusting instead that free exit will discipline owners and managers and prevent them from dominating their employees. (Taylor, 2013: 599) 8 Similarly, Widerquist (2013) claims that the ‘power to say no’ that a basic income confers has great value even under very dire conditions. He considers a system in which an advantaged group leaves others with just enough to give them economic independence with respect to basic needs but seizes control of everything else.…”

Section: The Insufficiency Of Basic Income As a Tool For Social Empowmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…He considers a system in which an advantaged group leaves others with just enough to give them economic independence with respect to basic needs but seizes control of everything else. Even then, having the independence of unconditional access to resources allows the disadvantaged ‘to live decently without contributing to the system that is being unfair to them’ (Widerquist, 2013: 109), and ‘whatever other powers everyone else controls, every individual has one very powerful decision to make’ (Widerquist, 2013: 112).…”

Section: The Insufficiency Of Basic Income As a Tool For Social Empowmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the idea of libertarian resourcism is an important point of reference also in discussions of basic income that are not directly anchored in the principles of libertarian resourcism. Indeed, I will argue that other (supposedly non-libertarian) justifications of basic income, based on freedom as non-domination (Lovett, 2010) or status freedom (Widerquist, 2013), incorporate important elements of the libertarian-resourcist position and therefore run into similar difficulties. 1 Considering the major impact of libertarian-resourcist ideas on the political philosophy and activism associated with basic income and related proposals, these problems are important to highlight in efforts to clarify the potential and limitations of such a reform strategy.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Equality of opportunity and the precarization of labour markets

Birnbaum

2017

European Journal of Political Theory

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How can we equalize opportunities while respecting people’s freedom? According to a view that I call libertarian resourcism, people’s fair shares of resources should normally take the form of unconditional, individual cash endowments, thereby supporting the freedom to do whatever they might want to do. This view, of which Van Parijs’ philosophy of ‘real freedom for all’ is the clearest and most well-known example, has become a powerful weapon to criticize work conditionality as unfair and perfectionistic (or illiberal), and to motivate political struggles for the emancipation of the precariat. However, similar views are also expressed in many other justifications of basic income that stress the strategic importance of exit-based empowerment. This article argues that the reliance of these theories on concepts and assumptions of libertarianism makes them ill-equipped to justify core requirements of social empowerment, and to identify the forms of agency needed to sustainably advance the radical objectives they favour. The implication of this is not to reject the link between social justice and unconditional resource endowments but to dissociate the justification and design of such measures from libertarian ways of thinking.

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Section: What Is Libertarian Resourcism?mentioning

confidence: 76%

Section: The Insufficiency Of Basic Income As a Tool For Social Empowmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Insufficiency Of Basic Income As a Tool For Social Empowmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Insufficiency Of Basic Income As a Tool For Social Empowmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Equality of opportunity and the precarization of labour markets

Birnbaum

2017

European Journal of Political Theory

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Policy Details as a Plea for Basic Income Experiments

Laín¹

2022

J Policy Anal Manage

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DO WE NEED MORE UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME EXPERIMENTS?While the notion of universal basic income (UBI) has been around for many decades, the idea has recently gained more traction in the United States. A 2020 poll from the Pew Research Center found that almost half (45 percent) of survey respondents would support a guaranteed payment of $1,000 per month to all adults, regardless of their working status. Several politicians have campaigned in recent years on implementing a local or federal UBI, and stimulus payments during the COVID-19 pandemic have further heightened the debate.As more cities, states, and countries have experimented with implementing UBIs, there have been growing opportunities for researchers to understand the potential implications of this policy. For example, the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, which provides $500 monthly payments to a random selection of the city's residents, found that the payments increased financial stability, full-time employment, and health and wellness. These findings, along with those of other experiments, have drawn much attention as other cities consider implementing similar programs both in the U.S. and worldwide. However, researchers and policymakers are now facing a critical question: how much more evidence on the impacts of universal basic income is needed? That is, do we have enough evidence to support rolling out these programs more broadly, or are more experiments needed in order to further refine UBI policies and understand their potential effects?In this issue, Bru Laín, of the University of Barcelona, argues that while further experiments can be useful, the extensive evidence base that has already accumulated renders them unnecessary. Therefore, he feels that the establishment and implementation of UBI policies should not wait for further evidence. Amy Castro, of the University of Pennsylvania, and Stacia West, of the University of Tennessee -Knoxville, respond to Laín's argument by highlighting remaining gaps in the body of evidence on UBI. They assert that further experimentation is needed before widespread UBI adoption to ensure that well-intentioned programs do not result in far worse outcomes for the populations that they aim to support. In his response, Laín argues that the evidence is clear that UBI generates positive effects for the targeted population, hence justifying UBI policies, while he agrees with Castro and West about the need for additional research on effective UBI implementation.

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Basic Income in the Current Climate: If Australia Can Implement Other Universal Provisions, Then Why Not a Basic Income?

Mays

2019

Implementing a Basic Income in Australia

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Independence, Propertylessness, and Basic Income

Cited by 87 publications

References 0 publications

Equality of opportunity and the precarization of labour markets

Equality of opportunity and the precarization of labour markets

Policy Details as a Plea for Basic Income Experiments

Basic Income in the Current Climate: If Australia Can Implement Other Universal Provisions, Then Why Not a Basic Income?

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