WEF-FABI Online Seminar Series: Ubuntu, Social Contracts, UBI, WEF-Nexus, Social Protection, and Empirical Research

Together with our partners at UNAM the WEF-FABI Team will host an online seminar series on “Ubuntu, Social Contracts, UBI, Water-Energy-Food Nexus, Social Protection, and Empirical Research,” starting on 21/03/2024. With assorted guests, the series will create a path of interconnections and differences between these topics and ask how their elements fit together. We want to examine how Ubuntu can be used in social experiments. Finally, the workshop findings will be incorporated into joint work (e.g. joint papers or field studies).

“Ubuntu” is a bond of unity amongst the people of Africa (Asike 2016, p. 7). In this sense, ubuntu is a philosophy that justifies norms and deliberate rules. With that, it touches common ground with the tradition of the social contract theory. In our series, we will follow various questions connecting these two traditions of thought: What are the main positions in these philosophical traditions? What are the similarities/differences between ubuntu and social contract theory? How can the shared features of the two of them be connected? We will then confront philosophical insights with the idea of a universal basic income and further link the various strings to possible impacts on social policy interactions. We take a look at the trade-offs between different policies and sharpen our awareness of the water-energy-food nexus and social protection. Finally, we will see how we can use empirical methods to normative justify policies and contribute to solving trade-offs.

If you are interested in a workshop, see the dates below and join (register) through the registration form on the workshop eventpage. The presentations are free to join using the zoom link provided in the event.

Program

All events will be held from 2 – 4 pm (CAT)

Presentations

21/03/2024       I’m Because We’re: Understanding the African Ubuntu Philosophy
Robert Senath Esuruku (University of Makerere, Kampala)

28/03/2024       Social Contract
Bernhard Neumärker (University of Freiburg)

04/04/2024       Universal Basic Income
Jurgen De Wispelaere (University of Bath)

11/04/2024       Water-Energy-Food Nexus
Mike Jacobson (Penn State University)

18/04/2024       Social Protection
Leo de Haan (International School of Social Studies, The Hague)
AF Kamanzi (University of Namibia)

25/04/2024       Empirical Normative Research
Tobias Jäger (University of Freiburg)

Workshops

02/05/2024       Debating Connections: Bringing the Different Ideas Together

09/05/2024       Different Philosophical Traditions: What Can We Learn for Social Policy?

Publication of two policy papers on the topic of empirical methods in basic income research

FRIBIS is pleased to announce the publication of two policy papers resulting from the discussion and insights of the second part of the FRIBIS Summer School 2023, “Empirical methods of UBI investigation”. The event took place from 11th to 14th April 2023 under the aegis of Prof. Bernhard Neumärker, the FRIBIS team SoCoBisTeam and its leader, Lida Kuang.

Does voluntary social cooperation promote liberal egalitarian justice?

The first policy paper, from Hedvig Mendonca, Lida Kuang, Simon März and Larissa Walter, explores the question of how voluntary social co-operation can promote liberal-egalitarian justice. On the basis of social contract assumptions and by carrying out an experiment, the authors investigate the extent to which voluntary social cooperation influences people’s decisions in favour of a liberal-egalitarian principle of redress, or not. In the context of a balloon game, in which participants have to decide together how to divide up the points they have scored, the relevance of cooperation in fostering fair distribution decisions soon becomes evident.

Decision-Making of Disadvantaged Individuals – A Proposal for an Experimental Extension

The second paper, from Patrick Oschwald, Eva Jacob, Adalbertus Kamanzi and Gudrun Kaufmann, addresses the question of the role that one’s social status plays in their decision-making when it comes to resource allocation and political redistribution measures. By analysing the psychological foundations of decision-making – such as preferences for redistribution due to economic disadvantages and the pursuit of justice within one’s own social class – the paper provides practice-oriented recommendations for making political measures more just and inclusive.

PDF Distributional Decision-Making of Disadvantaged Individuals – A Proposal for an Experimental Extension

Talk by Otto Lehto (NYU), 7th of March 2024: “Universal Basic Income (UBI) as a tool of adaptation and discovery”

In November/December 2021 Otto Lehto, an associate Junior Researcher at FRIBIS, joined us in Freiburg as a visiting researcher at the Götz Werner Chair of Economic Policy and Order Theory. On 7 March 2024, he will be giving a lecture on basic income “as a tool of adaptation and discovery” at the London School of Economics.

The event will be online and is open to the public.

 

Summary

Many of its proponents argue that UBI gives recipients “real freedom” (Van Parijs), consumer sovereignty (Friedman, Hayek), or increased protection against domination and exploitation in the labour market (Pettit, Standing, Widerquist). At the same time, many critics worry about the costs of the program. Assuming that UBI indeed has freedom-increasing properties, and that it can be implemented in a fiscally sound manner, how attractive a proposal (if at all) is UBI as “real freedom”? Issues of justice, fairness, and efficiency must all play a part in the debate. However, my talk argues that the best case for UBI-as-freedom lies in its capacity to act as a tool of adaptation in the face of radical uncertainty, social complexity, and emerging crises (like pandemics and A.I.). The increased autonomy that UBI gives to people may facilitate more creative and decentralized ways of solving problems. If the incentives are properly aligned, the decentralized actions of free and autonomous citizenry will lead to more innovations and more productive uses of resources. This benefits society on the whole. Of course, without sufficient safeguards, UBI-as-freedom may lead to various undesirable social outcomes, including a host of antisocial, unproductive, and destructive behaviours and attitudes. This means that UBI should be integrated into a broader institutional perspective that interferes minimally with the real freedom of the citizens but indirectly guides people’s actions towards the public good.

Speaker bio

Dr. Otto Lehto is a philosopher and political economist whose current work focuses on PPE, complexity theory, evolutionary theory, political philosophy, ethics, basic income, social epistemology, human enhancement, and naturalism. He is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at NYU School of Law (2022-) and an affiliated Junior Researcher at University of Freiburg’s FRIBIS Institute (2021-). He gained his PhD in Political Economy from King’s College London (2022) on the topic of Complex Adaptation and Permissionless Innovation: An Evolutionary Approach to Universal Basic Income. He also has a BA in English Philology (2009) and a Master’s Degree in Social and Moral Philosophy (2015) from University of Helsinki. He is the recipient of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) LAHP studentship (2017-2019), Adam Smith Fellowship at George Mason University (2019-2020), and a Templeton Foundation Grant at King’s College London (2020). He is currently writing a book about basic income, innovation, and freedom. His website is www.ottolehto.com.

 

Thomas Straubhaar’s lecture now on YouTube: „Die 3-E des Bedingungslosen Grundeinkommens aus ökonomischer Sicht: einfach, effektiv und effizient”

On 11 January 2024, Prof. em. Dr. Thomas Straubhaar, one of the leading UBI proponents in the economic debate within the German-speaking world, came to Freiburg to give an evening lecture at the invitation of FRIBIS. “Die 3-E des Bedingungslosen Grundeinkommens aus ökonomischer Sicht: einfach, effektiv und effizient” (“The 3 E’s of Basic Income from an economist’s point of view (easy, effective and efficient). In his lecture, he gives insights into his relationship with Freiburg as well as the personal experiences and research findings that have made him an advocate of the UBI.

The Freiburg Connection

Prof. Straubhaar began his lecture by emphasising the important role that Freiburg has played throughout his academic career. As a young research assistant he had the opportunity to edit the galley proofs of Alfred Müller-Armack’s works, which were published by the Rombach publishing company in Freiburg. Müller-Armack’s vision of a social market economy that strives for a harmonious balance between market efficiency and social justice had a lasting impact on his economic ideas.

His time, in 1991/92, as a deputy professor at the Freiburg Chair of Economic Policy, known as the Friedrich von Hayek professorship, also left a lasting impression on a very personal level. The experience of having a significant part of his gross salary reduced by deductions for social security made it clear to him how much of a financial burden the existing social security system was. This personal exposure to the costs that employees bear without feeling any direct benefits reinforced his thoughts on alternative forms of social security and strengthened his interest in the concept of a basic income.

The Importance of a UBI

In his lecture, Straubhaar explains why, in his view, a UBI is not only an innovative response to current socio-economic challenges but also the logical consequence of the ordoliberal principles advocated by the so-called Freiburg School of Economics. He argues that a basic income can create the ideal link between individual freedom and social security by providing every citizen with a financial safety net, without hindering the dynamics of the market.

Competing perspectives: Bernhard Neumärker and Giacomo Corneo on the basic income on utopia.de

An article published on 30 January 2024 by Utopia.de, a German platform that aims to promote sustainable lifestyles, came up with two opposing positions on the Universal Basic Income. Economists Bernhard Neumärker, Director of FRIBIS, and Giacomo Corneo, Professor of Public Finance at the Free University of Berlin, each put forward their arguments. And despite their differences, they agreed that the existing social system needs to be reformed.

Bernhard Neumärker on the potential of the UBI

For Bernhard Neumärker the UBI is far more than a mere response to “wage slavery”. Instead he sees it as a catalyst for a fairer and more productive economy. The UBI would give workers in the low-wage sector an “exit option” which could lead to fairer wages and make society as a whole more productive as people would have the freedom to choose work that suits their inclinations. Neumärker argues that the UBI would reduce bureaucracy, increase individual freedom and allow people to refuse morally dubious or exploitative jobs. A UBI could respond more flexibly and purposefully in times of crisis than means-tested systems, such as Hartz IV (the German unemployment benefit and social security system). Here he highlights the positive effects on mental health, based on experiments, in Finland, for example.

Basic income sceptic, Giacomo Corneo

Giacomo Corneo, on the other hand, is critical of the introduction of a Basic Income, arguing that a UBI would be divisive. It could, for instance, lead to some people living exclusively from the basic income while others continue to work and have to pay tax on a large proportion of their income in order to finance the basic income. Here, Corneo sees the danger of an “exploitative relationship”. As an alternative, he envisages a “stock market socialism” in which bigger companies are to a large extent (at least 51%) publicly owned and their dividends are used for a form of social dividend. This would, however, be lower than a UBI.

For more about the arguments and responses of Prof. Neumärker and Prof. Corneo, see the Utopia.de article here (in German).

 

Recently published: anthology on ‘future narratives’ of the Universal Basic Income

FRIBIS is pleased to announce the publication of a new anthology: Politische Partizipation und bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen –,Narrative‘ der Zukunft ( Political Participation and Unconditional Basic Income – ‘Narratives’ of the Future), edited by Leon Hartmann, Sebastian Kaufmann, Bernhard Neumärker and Andreas Urs Sommer. It deals with topics that are key to the work of the FRIBIS team, Participation and UBI – ‘Narratives’ of the Future (PartUBI) and contains contributions from both academics and activists. The contributions are both in German and in English.

Blurb:

This volume is based on the work of the Large FRIBIS Team Participation and UBI – ‘Narratives’ of the Future (PartUBI). Like all FRIBIS teams,  it   includesboth researchers and activists. This interdisciplinary research team focuses on the relationship between Universal Basic Income and political participation from a cultural-philosophical and cultural-poetological perspective, particularly in the context of ‘narratives of the future’. The Transfer Team is politically committed to the introduction of a UBI, which it sees as a participatory lever for citizens to become more involved in democratic processes. The latter also builds bridges to a politically committed theory of visual art.

 

 

The volume is now available for € 19.90 and can be ordered from the LIT-Verlag website.

Prof. Sophia Seung-yoon Lee presents her new book and the key concept of “melting labour”

On January 24, Sophia Seung-yoon Lee, Professor of Social Policy at the Department of Social Welfare at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, Korea, presented her new book, Varieties of Precarity. Melting Labor and the Failure to Protect Workers in the Korean Welfare State to the members of the FRIBIS Junior Research Group (JRG). At the same time, she introduced the novel concept of “melting labour”. The development she is trying to capture with this term is that traditional, stable employment relationships in South Korea are becoming increasingly rare, while the boundaries between the different types of work and jobs are becoming blurred. She thus draws attention to forms of precarious work that currently exist in South Korea — despite the economic successes and the presence of the welfare state.

We asked her how she felt about the discussion after her lecture:

„An opportunity to deliver a lecture on my newly published book, Varieties of Precarity: Melting Labour and the Failure to Protect Workers in South Korean Welfare State at FRIBIS was an enriching experience for me. The atmosphere during the event was invigorating and intellectually stimulating, underscored by the participants’ enthusiasm and the depth of the discussion. It was particularly impressive to see the audience’s level of interest and understanding regarding the labour market and social policy in Korea, as well as the insightful inquiries about the research methodologies employed. Such interactions are invaluable, encouraging a multidisciplinary approach to tackling complex social issues.“

About Prof. Sophia Seung-yoon Lee

Sophia Seung-yoon Lee, who has a PhD in Social Policy from  Oxford university, is a respected expert in the field of East Asian welfare states and labour markets as well as precarious work. Her expertise has made a contribution to European researchers’ understanding of the challenges of precarious work and protective measures in East Asian countries.

FRIBIS Best Paper Award 2023 for young researchers goes to Franziska Leopold and Tobias Jäger

We are delighted to start the new FRIBIS year with the FRIBIS Best Paper Award. The FRIBIS Board of Directors pays tribute to the PhD candidates, Franziska Leopold and Tobias Jäger, for their excellent contributions to the second FRIBIS Annual Conference (2022) “Basic Income and Development”. With their contributions to the anthology, Basic Income and Development. Proceedings of the FRIBIS Annual Conference 2022, Leopold and Jäger have made a significant contribution to both basic income research and the civil debate.

In her paper, I Would Like to Continue to Advocate for the Basic Income, BUT… Barriers to political UBI-participation in German-speaking countries, Leopold examines the crucial role of political education and information in basic income from the perspective of non-profit organizations, against the backdrop of the opportunities and limitations of advocating for a universal basic income. Based on an analysis of qualitative interviews, she examines the socio-demographic profiles of volunteer workers and the hurdles they face, some of which have led to the end of activism in some cases.

In his contribution, In the Face of Double Crises: Crossroads for Social Protection, Tobias Jäger expands on the idea of a universal basic income in the face of current and future crises, referring to Ugo Gentilini’s (World Bank) presentation, Lessons from cash transfers during Covid and implications for the UBI debate, which was delivered at the FRIBIS 2022 Annual Conference. The paper focuses on a discussion of changes in the social protection policies of various countries during the COVID-19 crisis. Leopold points out that the coronavirus crisis has not brought about any new trends in social protection policy but has reinforced existing ones instead.

We would like to thank all the authors once again for their contributions and congratulate Franziska Leopold and Tobias Jäger in particular.

FRIBIS Annual Conference 2023: Care & Gender – Potentials & Risks of UBI

The 3rd annual FRIBIS conference was held in Freiburg from October 9 to 11, 2023. It focused on two often overlooked aspects in the universal basic income (UBI) debate, namely, gender and care as central dimensions of social coexistence. The conference aimed to explore the potentials and challenges UBI offers for care work and gender-related issues, such as gender roles and equality. A key emphasis was placed on understanding the interplay between care and gender within the context of UBI. This event was organized by the FRIBIS teams care and UBIG (UBI & Gender).

UBI as a solution for care gaps? New perspectives and challenges

It is becoming increasingly clear, especially in Europe, that care work is one of the fundamental prerequisites for a functioning society. In view of increasing life expectancy and falling birth rates, we are confronted with the fact that the need for care will increase significantly in the future. Accordingly, the conference focused on formal and informal care work as well as the phenomenon of “care gaps”: gaps in care or welfare that arise when the need for care and nursing services (such as childcare, care for the elderly or the sick) exceeds the available capacity. The participants discussed the personal and institutional framework conditions necessary to close care gaps and the role a UBI could play in this.

We asked Prof. Klaus Baumann, a member of the care research team, about his impressions as a conference participant.

How did the conference influence your perspective on the topics of care/gender/UBI?

The numerous international contributions on care and gender with regard to the potential of a UBI made it clear how important both topics are; not surprisingly, they overlap time and again. The conference gave me and our care team a lot of encouragement: research is needed, the development of perspectives and their communication in academia, civil society and politics is becoming an increasingly urgent task, not through polarisation and over-simplification but through sustainable arguments and serious narratives.

Klaus Baumann

How did you benefit from taking part in the conference?

 

The conference was of great benefit in terms of exchanging ideas and questions, learning from each other and, in particular, for the diverse encounters and opportunities to get to know each other personally. It was very pleasing to see the willingness of international and German-speaking contributors from academia and civil society cooperating with our FRIBIS care team. We will provide more details once these initial discussions turn into firm commitments.

Bianca Blum, Christine Rudolf, Klaus Baumann

What new ideas or collaborations have emerged?

One new idea was to introduce the term “care ecology” to the Care Panel discussion, a concept that we will continue to develop and expand. After all, our common “house” (oikos) that we inhabit – the planet – can only be protected with thoughtful “care” for the current challenges and sustainably preserved as a life-friendly world for future generations. This will also include making a qualified contribution to the potential of the UBI. The approach will also encompass making a substantial contribution to understanding the potential of Universal Basic Income in this context.

Bianca Blum, Klaus Baumann, Ronald Blaschke

Gender and basic income: Intersectional perspectives at the annual conference

The gender part of the annual conference was characterized by intersectional-feminist perspectives Universal Basic Income. Among other things, the focus was on how the UBI could influence traditional roles in the world of work (production) as well as the private sphere, such as family work and raising children (reproduction). Feminist perspectives, which have been neglected to date, were given greater prominence. Ben Trott’s exciting keynote shed light on basic income from a queer perspective, while Almaz Zelleke’s keynote impressively showed how varying social and control systems shape different genders in different ways. The other presentations also encouraged participants to think about the role of a basic income in a possible social reorganisation based on feminist considerations of the economy and politics.

We asked keynote speaker Prof. Almaz Zelleke about the impressions the annual conference left on her.

My two-week stay in Freiburg began with the third annual FRIBIS conference—the first basic income conference, to my knowledge—with a thematic focus on gender and care. It was energising to attend session after session in which these issues, and their connection to basic income, were prioritised. The experience led a few of us to create a Gender and Basic Income network to collaborate on future conference panels and presentations, research, and publications. In this way I expect the conference’s thematic focus to have far-reaching implications for basic income research and activism into the future.

It was another new experience for me to be in a space like FRIBIS, where there are so many researchers working on basic income in close proximity. I spent time with Professor Neumärker and the doctoral students there, learning about the different projects they’re involved in and the range of methodological approaches being used. I was particularly intrigued by the ordoliberal/contractarian approach being taken in a number of lab experiments to determine the agreements citizens are likely to make on a range of issues related to distribution, redistribution, and basic income.

Beyond the formal conversations in the conference, workshops, and research presentations, perhaps my favourite part of the trip was participating in an informal “Basic Income, Bier, and Bratwurst” conversation on the relationship between basic income and work. This is a great FRIBIS tradition, and one I look forward to participating in again when I am next in Freiburg.

Almaz Zelleke

Almaz Zelleke, Jurgen De Wispelaere

Conclusion

The FRIBIS Annual Conference 2023 was an excellent opportunity for international participants to engage in an interdisciplinary exchange on care and gender in the context of the UBI. The future collaborations that are being established will undoubtedly help to anchor the topics of care and gender more firmly in the basic income discourse. We would like to thank all participants for their enriching contributions and look forward to continuing the discussions in the coming year.

 

Presentation by Prof. John Davis: Technological Unemployment Creates a New Kind of Collective Property that Can Fund Basic Incomes

Since the industrial revolution, technological innovation has led to loss in Jobs on a grant scale. Until now, at least the same technologies have created different jobs that ultimately offset these losses. But will this trend keep true?

Prof. Dr. John Davis thinks it might not. In his view developments in the fields of AI and robotics are encroaching on tasks previously only humans were thought able to.  On the 20th of November, he visited FRIBIS, giving a talk on the ethics of private and public property in the aforementioned context. He argues that, when trough progressive automation humans are pushed out of the job market with no future employment in sight, it might be ethically acceptable or good to fund a basic income from the increased profits of “the capitalist”. These profits he claims further are a new form of public property. Instead of falling back on established schools of anticapitalist thought, he structured his argument in a conversational style directly engaging with justifications offered by defenders of the status quo.

Coming to Freiburg to get an economic perspective on his thesis, he entered a productive discussion with the listeners. Although there was much agreement, some points were discussed from both the viewpoint of economics, social science in general and ethics. We thank Prof. Davis for his presentation and look forward to reading the paper that he is planning to publish on the talk’s subject.

Learn more about Prof. John Davis publications here.