An Ecological Basic Income? Examining the Ecological Credentials of Basic Income Through a Review of Selected Pilot Interventions

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2 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

While basic income (BI) has long been advocated for its social benefits, some scholars also propose it in response to the ecological crises. However, the empirical evidence to support this position is currently lacking and the concept of an ecological BI (EBI) is underdeveloped. Part one of this paper attempts to develop such a concept, arguing that an EBI should seek to reduce aggregate material throughput, improve human needs satisfaction, reduce inequalities, rebalance productive activity towards social activities in the autonomous sphere, and promote societal values of cooperation and sufficiency. Part two examines how BI interventions consider the principles of an EBI in their designs and discusses what their findings infer about BI’s ecological credentials. The results find that while ecological considerations are largely absent from BI intervention designs, their findings suggest that interventions aligned with the principles of an EBI could play a role in addressing the ecological crises.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)47-87
Number of pages41
JournalBasic Income Studies
Volume18
Issue number1
Early online date21 Dec 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Jun 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston 2022.

Funding

This assertion was supported by the primary research. No interventions addressed the “non-hazardous environment” characteristic of HN from an ecological perspective nor considered ecological footprints (beyond ). Only PPG included an environmental section in its design document, although consumption changes are out of scope. Those interventions which did monitor consumption did not then consider the ecological impacts. This is an area for future research.

FundersFunder number
Economic and Social Research Council

Keywords

  • Basic income
  • Post-growth
  • Sustainability
  • Ecologism
  • Environmentalism
  • postgrowth
  • basic income
  • environmentalism
  • sustainability
  • ecologism

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Economics and Econometrics

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