Lecture by Prof. Dr. Toru Yamamori in Freiburg on September 12, 2023: “Is a Cent a Month a Grundeinkommen? Revisiting the historiography of the concept of a threshold in Basic Income”

Toru Yamamori, professor of economics at the Doshisha University in Kyoto, co-chair of the BIEN working group for clarifying the definition of basic income, and member of the FRIBIS team UBI and Gender, is coming to Freiburg in September to give a talk at FRIBIS. (German text below)

Title: Is a Cent a Month a Grundeinkommen? Revisiting the historiography of the concept of a threshold in Basic Income

Time: 12.09.2023, 16:00.

Location: Room 01 012 – Rempartstraße 16, 79098 Freiburg im Breisgau.

The lecture will take place both online and in attendance. It will be open to FRIBIS members and externals alike.

Abstract: Does a cent per month constitute a Basic Income? Were that cent to be paid individually, universally, and unconditionally, the answer would be ‘yes’, following the definition of basic income given by some of its leading advocates, be it organisations like the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) or prominent scholars such as Philippe van Parijs. In my paper titled ‘Is a Penny a Month a Basic Income?’ published in 2022 for the Basic Income Studies, it was shown how there was a widely shared assumption in the 1970s and 80s, at the early stages of both academic articulations and public discussion, that basic income comes with some notion of a threshold or level to be taken as a minimum or as adequate. The paper also traced back to the history of the term basic income up to 1920s and revealed that in the beginning was a threshold. When I presented a paper at the 2021 BIEN congress, several people told me that the choice of the term ‘Basic Income’ at its foundation of BIEN in 1986 was nothing to do with its history in English, rather it was adopted from the German term of Grundeinkommen, and that the meaning of the German word of ‘Grund’ is different from the English word of ‘basic’, thus the concept of Grundeinkommen has nothing to do with the concept of basic needs. I am not knowledgeable on whether Grundeinkommen has nothing to do with the concept of grundbedürfnisse. In this workshop, I will sum up my historical finding in the usage of the term basic income in English (which is a part of my paper mentioned above), then would like to learn on its German history and usage with audience through discussion that would follow.

For registration, please send an e-mail to jessica.schulz@fribis.uni-freiburg.de. Deadline for registration is on Friday, 8th September 2023.

DEUTSCH: Vortrag in Freiburg von Toru Yamamori am 12. September 2023: Is a Cent a Month a Grundeinkommen? Revisiting the historiography of the concept of a threshold in Basic Income

Toru Yamamori, Professor für Wirtschaftswissenschaften an der Dōshisha-Universität in Kyoto, Co-Vorsitzender der BIEN-Arbeitsgruppe für die Klärung der Definition des Grundeinkommens und Mitglied des FRIBIS Teams UBI und Gender, kommt im September nach Freiburg und wird am FRIBIS einen Vortrag halten.

Titel: Is a Cent a Month a Grundeinkommen? Revisiting the historiography of the concept of a threshold in Basic Income

Zeit: 12.09.2023, 16:00 Uhr.

Ort: Raum 01 012 – Rempartstraße 16, 79098 Freiburg im Breisgau

Der Vortrag findet sowohl online als auch in Präsenz statt und ist für FRIBIS-Mitglieder und Externe gleichermaßen geöffnet.

Zur Registrierung senden Sie bitte eine E-Mail an: jessica.schulz@fribis.uni-freiburg.de. Die Frist läuft bis Freitag, 8. September 2023.