Freedom, Justice and Esteem: Perspectives from an Unconditional Basic Income

Unconditional basic income continues to be a subject of lively debate – both in academia and in the public and political spheres. From a philosophical and social science perspective, the questions it raises are: Would such an income increase our individual freedom? What impact would it have on fundamental forms of social esteem? And could it be consistent with notions of justice based on reciprocity? These systematic questions will be discussed at the conference, taking into account relevant historical and theoretical developments.

Conference Languages: English and German

Program:

March 3, 2022 (all times are CET)

11–11.30 Hans-Christoph Schmidt am Busch, Gottfried Schweiger: Welcome

11.30 –12.40 Matilde Cazzola (Frankfurt am Main): Beyond Poverty and the Coercion of Work: Thomas Spence and the Redistribution of Quarterly Dividends

2–3.10 Silke Bothfeld (Bremen): Eignet sich ein bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen für die nachhaltige Förderung individueller Autonomie? Ein Kommentar aus der Perspektive der Sozialpolitikforschung

3.30–4.40 Jürgen Schupp (Berlin): Das 2021 gestartete Pilotprojekt Grundeinkommen in Deutschland: Zum Stellenwert sozialwissenschaftlicher Feldexperimente

5–6 Philippe Van Parijs (Louvain): Prospects and Challenges for an Unconditional Basic Income: A Conversation with Philippe Van Parijs

March 4, 2022

9.30–10.40 Malcom Torry (London): Basic Income: A Brief History of the Idea

10.50–12 Peter Sloman (Cambridge): Redistribution or Revolution? Basic Income and Radical Politics in Britain, c. 1918-1950

1–2.10 Olavi Kangas (Turku): Possibilities to Plan and Implement Large Scale Social Experiments – Some Lessons from the Finnish Basic Income Experiment

2.10–3 Hans-Christoph Schmidt am Busch, Gottfried Schweiger: Final Discussion and Farewell