Now on YouTube: Emergency basic income: Distraction or Opportunity (Politics of Basic Income Talk Series)

Jun 5, 2024 | News, Topical

On May 16th, Jurgen De Wispelaere and Francesca Bastagli explored the implications of Emergency Basic Income (EBI) for social protection systems and its relationship to Universal Basic Income (UBI) as part of the “Politics of Basic Income” talk series. They examined whether EBI can be integrated into existing programs, overcome barriers, and fuel changes towards more generous policies, while also discussing the divided opinions on whether EBI is an opportunity or a distraction for the future development of UBI.

Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 crisis, the idea of providing the vast majority of citizens with immediate unconditional cash support for a time-limited period gained considerable traction with decision makers as well as the general public. Several countries proceeded to implement cash transfers that mimic EBI in key respects.

The EBI model opens up a series of interesting questions for policy analysts and social protection scholars alike. The speakers focused on how EBI interfaces with existing social protection systems and whether it might be able to build on existing programmes or fuel a change towards designing and instituting less targeted and more generous social protection policies in the near future.

An equally important set of questions arises in relation to how EBI fits with UBI, considering the clear contrasts both in design (temporary versus permanent) and context (short-term emergency versus long-term steady state). The basic income community itself is divided on whether to regard EBI as an opportunity to further boost the public awareness and policy support for basic income or as a distraction that will only sidetrack productive social protection development.

The event built on a plenary session of the 21st BIEN Congress, held on 26–28 September 2022 in Brisbane, Australia, in which policy experts, representatives of INGOs and basic income scholars debated the merits and impact of the EBI proposal during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The “Politics of Basic Income” talk series, hosted by the Bath UBI Beacon and Freiburg Institute of Basic Income Studies (FRIBIS), in partnership with the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), has been running monthly every 3rd Thursday since October 2023. Experts from around the world continue to share insights on UBI policy, movement building, and research. Stay tuned for upcoming events in the series. 

Workshop in Niterói, Brazil: Basic Income Social Policies in Practice – Learnings from Maricá and Niterói in Dialogue with the Global North

Jul 11, 2023 | News, Topical

Since the early 2000s, the emergence and continuous growth of cash transfer programs define the main stage in the discussion surrounding the future of social protection. While established first in Latin America, programs focussing on direct cash transfers have spread throughout various countries and contexts. Parallelly, a debate developed on the advantages and disadvantages of the conditionality and unconditionality of cash transfers as social policy mechanisms.

The municipality of Maricá established the Renda Básica de Cidadania in 2013 and since then, expanded it majorly. Today, it is the largest basic income program in Latin America. It is based on the circulation of a digital community currency, called mumbuca, which creates a broad network of local exchange within the municipality. Meanwhile, the Moeda Social Arariboia in Niterói was established in its current form in 2022. While the Niterói policy carries some similarities with the policy in Maricá, it also differs in various points.

The goal of creating a social protection net brings both of them together. But what does this mean in practice? What are the impacts of these policies? How does the receiving of mumbuca/arariboia translate into the local economy? What difficulties and chances arise through the policies? How do these policies relate to ideas of solidarity economy? This workshop plans to look at the current state of implementation, evaluation, and research on the social policies in Maricá and Niterói, aiming to give an overview, relate to basic income ideas, and create a broad spectrum of exchange likewise.

Further, while innovative and ground-breaking, the policies of cash transfer cum local currency, as implemented in Maricá and Niterói, share features with policies, pilots, and experiments implemented throughout the world, particularly in the Global North. The second main objective of this workshop is to offer an opportunity for international researchers and policymakers based in Europe and the USA to talk about similar experiences observed elsewhere and to contribute to local researchers and policymakers to take stock of the virtues and limitations of the policies that are active in Maricá and Niterói currently.

Date/Location

When? August 3rd, 2023, 09:00 am – 06:00 pm
Where? UFF, Gragoatá-Campus, Bloco F, R 407, Niterói, Brazil

Further Remarks
Please, note that this workshop will take place in English. It will be held exclusively offline/in person at the location named above.

The organizers do not and shall not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, colour, national origin, gender, disability, or age (and any other bases you wish to include) who wish to participate in this event.

Click here for the schedule (PDF).

NEW: FRIBIS’ UBI Experiments team gets off the ground

Jul 3, 2023 | News, Topical

Why the team was founded

Interest in basic income has increased significantly in recent years, both in academia and in politics. This growing attention from the media has contributed to a greater willingness to fund UBI pilot projects. As a result, numerous basic income pilots have been launched around the world in recent years. Nevertheless, there is as still no international platform to enable the mutual exchange of pilot results to promote collaboration within different teams or help researchers to work effectively with policy-makers. The UBI Experiments Team aims to change this by setting up the first global pilot network. With Jurgen De Wispelaere, Karl Widerquist, Leah Hamilton, Miriam Opwonya Laker, Neil Howard and Nika Soon-Shiong, the team includes many well-known faces from the Basic Income scene.

Next steps

The team has set itself a 4-point plan to be tackled, starting this year. 1) Starting in the summer of 2023, UBI Experiments will publish a monthly newsletter for the global pilot community, providing updates on research, policy developments, possible meetings, publications and opportunities for collaboration. 2) The team will also host a quarterly online seminar series in which members of the pilot project community can share and discuss the latest findings and developments in their work. 3) In late 2023 the team will host a FRIBIS Winter School entitled “How to Build a Pilot” for students, researchers and pilots. (This will complement the one-day Summer School offered by FRIBIS in July 2023). 4) Finally, the team will host the world’s first pilot community conference at FRIBIS in summer 2024.

Click here for the team page

Freiburg Rising Stars Academy (Excellence funding): FRIBIS encourages outstanding young researchers to apply

Jun 14, 2023 | News, Topical

What is the Rising Stars Academy?

Rising Stars is a program launched by the University of Freiburg to support highly qualified international young researchers. The Freiburg Rising Stars Academy offers researchers from various disciplines the opportunity to apply for funding. Applicants have the opportunity to join already established research teams and projects with their own research proposals. For more information, see the Rising Stars Academy Fact Sheet.

Notice: The deadline for submission has been extended to July 8, 2023.

What are the benefits of being a Rising Star?

  • International experience and recognition
  • Research collaboration at the highest level
  • The opportunity to build and expand professional networks
  • Travel grants to Freiburg, and much more.

What role does FRIBIS play?

The head of FRIBIS, Prof. Bernhard Neumärker, is a Host Principal Investigator of the Rising Stars Academy. As an interdisciplinary research network, FRIBIS welcomes applicants from all disciplines who are interested in Universal Basic Income research. Joint projects and publications as well as new cooperation partners and third party funding for future research projects are desired by us. There is a possibility to fill doctoral positions with suitable Rising Stars. Interested applicants contact Dr. Bianca Blum.

If you would like to invite or encourage interested persons to participate in the Rising Stars Academy, you can download a sample letter here.