Economic Policy & Development, Labor & Industrial Relations, Poverty, European, Political Science, Social Services & Welfare, Economic Policy 

* Comprehensively examines of the most fundamental issues facing Western society in the 21st century, the proposal that basic income security should be a pillar of 21st-century society * Contributors include some of the most distinguished authorities in the field from across Europe and the USA * Will appeal to academics and policymakers throughout the UK, Europe and the USA This book is about an idea that has a long and distinguished pedigree, the idea of a right to a basic income. This means having a modest income guaranteed, a right without conditions, just as a citizen of a good society should have the right to clean water, fresh air and a good education. In modern societies the conditions for moving in this direction would seem to be falling into place. Yet in the era of globalization and flexible labour relations, inequalities and insecurities can be expected to remain pervasive. The early years of the 21st century have seen the supremacy of politicians who have preached a very paternalistic alternative vision. The past decade has been one of increased state paternalism in social policy; it has been the period of the erosion of industrial citizenship rights whose immediate effect has been a terrible increase in social and economic insecurity. The arguments from and against the right to basic income security are considered in this book. It argues that there should be a guaranteed basic income as a citizenship right, without conditions, paid to each individual, regardless of marital status, work status, age or sex. Some chapters argue that existing selective schemes for income protection are ineffectual, costly and misleading; other chapters present alternative rationales and philosophical justifications for moving towards a new form of universalism based on citizenship economic rights. Promoting Income as a Right, whose contributors include many distinguished economists, philosophers and other social scientists from across Europe and the USA, will appeal to academics and policymakers alike. Contributors from the US include Sibyl Schwarzenbach, City University of New York; Michael Howard, University of Maine; Alan Dyer, Northeastern University, Boston; Steven Shafarman, Citizen Policies Institute, Washington D.C.; Theresa Funiciello, Social Agenda, Inc., New York; Karl Wilderquist, University of Oxford (USA); Joel Handler, Richard C Maxwell Professor of Law and Policy Studies, UCLA - from Amzon