How can we equalize opportunities while respecting people's freedom? According to a view that I c... more 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.
När förslaget om basinkomst fördes fram i europeisk debatt i mitten av 1980-talet framstod det fö... more När förslaget om basinkomst fördes fram i europeisk debatt i mitten av 1980-talet framstod det för många som en obskyr och politiskt utsiktslös idé. Under senare år har emellertid tanken om en allmän och villkorsfri inkomstgaranti väckt allt större intresse i det vetenskapliga samtalet. Samtidigt har den stått i centrum för pilotprojekt i olika delar av världen. I denna artikel introducerar jag centrala teman i denna forskning och argumenterar för att diskussionen om basinkomst har utvecklats till en värdefull inspirationskälla i debatten om den generella välfärdens framtid.
A widespread argument in the basic income debate is that the unconditional entitlement to a secur... more A widespread argument in the basic income debate is that the unconditional entitlement to a secure income floor improves workers' bargaining position visa -vis their employers. Basic income effectively grants all (potential) workers an exit option from an employment relation that fails to take her interests into account. It gives them the " power to say no " , as argued by Karl Widerquist. Surprisingly, given its importance, the exit argument itself has not been subjected to much systematic analysis by basic income advocates. In this paper we critically examine the exit argument and suggest that, under current economic conditions, an exit strategy might end up worsening rather than strengthening the opportunity set and bargaining position of the most vulnerable workers.
In the 1930s Danish author and painter Johannes Hohlenberg (1881–1960) published several essays i... more In the 1930s Danish author and painter Johannes Hohlenberg (1881–1960) published several essays in defense of an unconditional income for all. These original writings, strongly influenced by Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophy, are not widely known. This article makes two of Hohlenberg's essays on this topic available in English translation for the first time. The first part of this article introduces Hohlenberg's ideas, followed in section two by English translations of the two Hohlenberg essays: Samfundsarven (The Heritage of Society) (1934) and Dersom nogen ikke vil arbejde, så skal han heller ikke have føden (He who Does not Work, Neither Shall He Eat) (1937). Keywords – anthroposophy, history of basic income, Hohlenberg, inheritance
How can we equalize opportunities while respecting people's freedom? According to a view that I c... more 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.
När förslaget om basinkomst fördes fram i europeisk debatt i mitten av 1980-talet framstod det fö... more När förslaget om basinkomst fördes fram i europeisk debatt i mitten av 1980-talet framstod det för många som en obskyr och politiskt utsiktslös idé. Under senare år har emellertid tanken om en allmän och villkorsfri inkomstgaranti väckt allt större intresse i det vetenskapliga samtalet. Samtidigt har den stått i centrum för pilotprojekt i olika delar av världen. I denna artikel introducerar jag centrala teman i denna forskning och argumenterar för att diskussionen om basinkomst har utvecklats till en värdefull inspirationskälla i debatten om den generella välfärdens framtid.
A widespread argument in the basic income debate is that the unconditional entitlement to a secur... more A widespread argument in the basic income debate is that the unconditional entitlement to a secure income floor improves workers' bargaining position visa -vis their employers. Basic income effectively grants all (potential) workers an exit option from an employment relation that fails to take her interests into account. It gives them the " power to say no " , as argued by Karl Widerquist. Surprisingly, given its importance, the exit argument itself has not been subjected to much systematic analysis by basic income advocates. In this paper we critically examine the exit argument and suggest that, under current economic conditions, an exit strategy might end up worsening rather than strengthening the opportunity set and bargaining position of the most vulnerable workers.
In the 1930s Danish author and painter Johannes Hohlenberg (1881–1960) published several essays i... more In the 1930s Danish author and painter Johannes Hohlenberg (1881–1960) published several essays in defense of an unconditional income for all. These original writings, strongly influenced by Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophy, are not widely known. This article makes two of Hohlenberg's essays on this topic available in English translation for the first time. The first part of this article introduces Hohlenberg's ideas, followed in section two by English translations of the two Hohlenberg essays: Samfundsarven (The Heritage of Society) (1934) and Dersom nogen ikke vil arbejde, så skal han heller ikke have føden (He who Does not Work, Neither Shall He Eat) (1937). Keywords – anthroposophy, history of basic income, Hohlenberg, inheritance
... that do so. In response to the cases of Christian and Christina, those accepting this priorit... more ... that do so. In response to the cases of Christian and Christina, those accepting this priority of liberty might claim that respect for a great diversity of ethical conceptions and individual Birnbaum 13 Page 14. choices entails that ...
Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 2010
... Political liberalism , New York: Columbia University Press. ... 1989. Justice, gender, and th... more ... Political liberalism , New York: Columbia University Press. ... 1989. Justice, gender, and the family , New York: Basic Books. ... View all notes. On Rawls' view 'we expect and indeed want people to care about their liberties and opportunities so that they can achieve their good. ...
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