Universal Basic Income Activism in Switzerland and Austria

Liu, Larry

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-43904-0_12

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…More slowly, social pressure also began to grow. A referendum was held in Switzerland (see Liu, 2020). A presidential candidate gained surprising support in the USA (Wu, 2020).…”

Section: Basic Income For a Complex Society?mentioning

confidence: 99%

A basic income for a complex society: Introduction

Cannizzo

Spies-Butcher

2023

Journal of Sociology

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Proposals for a Universal Basic Income (UBI) have a long history, but a surge of interest since the global financial crisis suggests a connection to growing inequality and insecurity. The pandemic intensified interest through the global explosion in the use of cash transfers. This special issue arose from pre-pandemic debates among Australian sociologists connecting global interest around UBI to emerging patterns of inequality and insecurity stemming from Australia's precarious labour market and expensive housing market. Those discussions broadened to reflect on Australia's colonial history and patriarchal economy, and the potential to recognise more diverse contributions and values. Evolving through the Covid crisis, the issue now incorporates the remarkable alternatives that were, briefly, made possible. The articles reflect both scepticism and optimism towards UBI, but all reveal how basic income can provide a useful lens for Australian sociology – a simple tool responding to an increasingly complex society.

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“…More slowly, social pressure also began to grow. A referendum was held in Switzerland (see Liu, 2020). A presidential candidate gained surprising support in the USA (Wu, 2020).…”

Section: Basic Income For a Complex Society?mentioning

confidence: 99%

A basic income for a complex society: Introduction

Cannizzo

Spies-Butcher

2023

Journal of Sociology

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“…Schwander and Vlandas (2020) find that leftist support for UBI is grounded primarily in a 'laborist' ideology, suggesting that concerns over-exploitation of the working classes is an important driver of UBI support. This is contrasted with UBI support amongst politicians, where especially the green parties and activist movements endorse UBI (Liu, 2020;Perkiö, 2020). Other studies focus on anti-immigrant sentiments as the main obstacle to UBI support (Bay & Pedersen, 2006;Stadelmann-Steffen & Dermont, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

More than a Free Lunch: A Content Analysis of the Controversies Surrounding Universal Basic Income on Dutch Twitter

Gielens

Roosma

Achterberg

2022

Social Policy and Society

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Universal Basic Income (UBI) reached political agendas as a proposal to radically reform welfare systems, followed by scholarly interest in its public legitimacy. While surveys find UBI support to be mostly redistribution-driven, the discussion in science and media suggests a more nuanced understanding. To comprehensively grasp the public response to UBI policy, this article explores the controversies surrounding UBI policy through a content analysis of Dutch tweets. In addition to identifying established controversies, our analysis points to two avenues for the study of UBI legitimacy. First, a multidimensional measure of UBI support should include redistributive, conditionality, and efficiency aspects. Second, dissatisfaction with targeted activation policy and ‘post-productivist’ attitudes should receive greater attention as drivers of UBI support. Overall, we find the pressure to reform welfare is more than the promise of a ‘free lunch’: it is anchored in fundamental critiques of economic and welfare institutions.

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“…The momentum for UBI policy is met with resistance from both publics and politics on the way to its implementation. The Swiss referendum to implement a UBI was comfortably rejected (Liu, 2020), and the experiments with unconditional social assistance in Finland and the Netherlands seem to have had little impact on the political coalition surrounding UBI, especially on the national level (but see Roosma, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Between left and right: A discourse network analysis of Universal Basic Income on Dutch Twitter

2023

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Universal Basic Income (UBI) found its way back to media and policy agendas, presented as an alternative to the social investment policies omnipresent in Europe. In spite of the apparent appeal, however, UBI faces a discursive and political stalemate that seems hard to overcome. In an attempt to understand this tension, we explore the discursive coalitions surrounding UBI in a debate on Dutch Twitter. We use discourse network analysis to (a) cluster discussants endorsing similar positions and (b) see which political elites endorse these positions. We find that the known schism between the liberal and egalitarian interpretations of UBI is driven by ambivalence towards its redistributive implications. Moreover, we observe a turn towards social investment frames amongst UBI advocates, who centrally argue that UBI is activating and deregulating social security. This change in framing, however, seems to have little visible impact on elite coalition formation. Green-left elites remain overrepresented amongst proponents, while liberal and conservatives are opposed, and the socialist party remains divided on the issue. Thus, while the implementation of a ‘full’ UBI seems blocked by redistributive concerns, the social investment turn may be the political compromise that explains the popular appeal and political success of UBI inspired experiments.

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Universal Basic Income Activism in Switzerland and Austria

Cited by 4 publications

References 8 publications

A basic income for a complex society: Introduction

A basic income for a complex society: Introduction

More than a Free Lunch: A Content Analysis of the Controversies Surrounding Universal Basic Income on Dutch Twitter

Between left and right: A discourse network analysis of Universal Basic Income on Dutch Twitter

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