Basic Income—A Transformative Policy for Sustainable Welfare? Part 1
Four Arguments for Basic Income as an Eco‐Social Tool
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21787716 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Simon Birnbaum (0000-0002-6765-918X, Södertörn University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Publication date | 2026-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Philosophy Compass (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1747-9991 • E-ISSN: 1747-9991 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/phc3.70098 |
| OpenAlex | W7163320033 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 45 |
Is basic income (BI) a powerful tool for the green transformation of advanced welfare states? Since the early steps of green ideology formation, basic income‐oriented policies have been widely embraced by environmentally concerned thinkers, and key actors of the green movement. But even though discursive patterns that link basic income to ecological values are prominent and consistent over time, such claims often take the form of general suggestions rather than rigorously developed arguments. This paper—part 1 of 2—will reconstruct and clarify key arguments expressed or implied in normative theory and policy discourse that relates BI to eco‐social objectives. I distinguish four lines of argument for why BI might have unique advantages over conditional forms of income support in terms of sustainable welfare
Basic income · Ideology · Normative · Transformative learning · Income, Poverty, and Inequality · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy
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Democratizing Citizenship
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |