Basic income is one the most innovative, powerful and controversial proposals for addressing poverty and growing inequalities. This book examines the arguments for and against basic income from the point of view of economic and social justice.

"The book is full of enlightening argument, and particularly compelling is a method which sets out from a situation in which a Basic Income has been implemented and then studies a situation in which it has been abolished." - Citizen's Income Newsletter

"Overall, the book is a major contribution to the liberal egalitarian literature on basic income." - Ethical Perspectives

Autorentext
SIMON BIRNBAUM Researcher in the Department of Political Science at Stockholm University, Sweden.

Inhalt
Acknowledgments * Introduction and Overview * 1. Basic Income, Liberal Egalitarianism, and the Study of Social Justice * Part One. A Society of Equals: Radical Liberalism, Self-Respect, and Basic Income * 2. Equality of Status and its Priority: A Rawlsian Case for Basic Income * 3. Are Only Contributors Entitled to Social Rights? Cooperation, Reciprocity and the Boundaries of Social Justic * Part Two. The Exploitation Objection Against Basic Income: Equality of Opportunity, Luck and Responsibility * 4. Why Unconditional Transfers Are Not Exploitative * 5. Jobs as Gifts. A Reconstruction and a Qualified Defense * Part Three. The Feasibility of Basic Income: Social Ethos, Work, and the Politics of Universalism * 6. Why Do People Work if They Don't Have To? Basic Income, Liberal Neutrality and the Work Ethos * 7. Social Justice in Practice. On the Political Implications of Radical Liberalism * References * Index