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Basic income, decommodification and the welfare state
Abstract
According to Philippe Van Parijs, the superiority of an unconditional basic income (UBI) over conventional means-tested liberal welfare state programs lies in its decommodifying potential. In this article I argue that even if a UBI was sustainable at high enough a level to lessen the extent to which an individual is forced to sell his or her labor power in the market, it would nonetheless have the adverse and simultaneous effect of forcing that individual into further market transactions to satisfy his or her most basic needs. I conclude that the relative directness with which a welfare regime responds to basic needs qualifies as a crucial dimension of decommodification, and that the conventional liberal welfare state scores rather higher along this dimension than a UBI would.
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“A BI clearly challenges the liberal welfare regime that is strongly based on meanstested benefits for the poor only and where benefits contain strict job-seeking obligations (Panitch, 2011).”
From Public opinion on basic income: Mapping European support for a radical alternative for welfare provision (2020) · cites this paper as Panitch, 2011
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Roosma, F., & van Oorschot, W. (2020) · Journal of European Social Policy · doi:10.1177/0958928719882827 · Cited by 115
“A BI clearly challenges the liberal welfare regime that is strongly based on means-tested benefits for the poor only and where benefits contain strict job-seeking obligations (Panitch, 2011).”
BackgroundBasic Income in the Capitalist Economy: The Mirage of “Exit” from Employment
Birnbaum, S. E., & Wispelaere, J. D. (2016) · Basic Income Studies · doi:10.1515/bis-2016-0013 · Cited by 66
“Since we are here focusing on 2 On welfare states and de-commodification, see Esping-Andersen (1990) and, for a critical perspective, Panitch (2011).”
BackgroundIncome Support in an Eco-Social State: The Case for Participation Income
McGann, M. T., & Murphy, M. (2021) · Social Policy and Society · doi:10.1017/s1474746421000397 · Cited by 57
“Panitch (2011) challenges the claim that UBI has substantial de-commodifying effects.”
Ziegler, H. (2017) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-531-19096-9_64 · Cited by 8
Wielokryterialna ocena projektów bezwarunkowego dochodu podstawowego i gwarantowanego zatrudnienia
Baranowski, M., & Mika, B. (2017) · Praktyka Teoretyczna · doi:10.14746/prt.2017.2.2 · Cited by 2
Metadata
- Authors
- Panitch, V.
- Affiliations
- Carleton University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Panitch, Vida
- ORCID
- Panitch, Vida
- Venue
- Philosophy & Social Criticism
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2011-07-29
- Volume
- 37
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 935-945
- ISSN
- 0011-2860 (ISSN-L)
- 0191-4537
- 1461-734X
- OpenAlex
- W2331631408
- Semantic Scholar
- 7704cec1623ff37cad41e8d32c2d624ed383f413
- Cited by
- 19
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 2.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Philosophy & Social Criticism (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Social Policy and Reform Studies
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Philosophy and Ethics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Political Economy and Marxism
- Keywords
- unconditional basic income, decommodification, welfare state, Philippe Van Parijs, labor power, basic needs, liberal welfare state, market transactions
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- Panitch, V. (2011). Basic income, decommodification and the welfare state. Philosophy & Social Criticism. https://doi.org/10.1177/0191453711413715
