MOBILIZING FOR BASIC INCOMES. SOCIAL INNOVATION IN MOTION

Project Information

MOBILISE

Grant agreement ID: 839483

DOI

10.3030/839483

Project closed

EC signature date 28 March 2019

Start date 1 May 2019

End date 30 June 2022

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 304 724,16

EU contribution

€ 304 724,16

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITE DE GENEVE
Switzerland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MOBILISE (MOBILIZING FOR BASIC INCOMES. SOCIAL INNOVATION IN MOTION)

Reporting period: 2019-05-01 to 2022-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The research project “MOBILIZING FOR BASIC INCOME. SOCIAL INNOVATION IN MOTION (MOBILISE)” investigates the role and influence of civil society organizations (CSOs) on the recent adoption of several Basic Income (BI) pilot tests in Europe.
Rising levels of (long-term) unemployment, growing poverty levels and increasing income inequality in several European countries, have prompted greater interest in basic income schemes. 122 million people in the EU-28 were at risk of poverty or social exclusion (2014); which equates to 24.4 % of the population. Policymakers are under pressure to deliver solutions that redress the social consequences of the crisis, while the unfolding of the so-called fourth industrial revolution threatens thousands of jobs. In this context, several countries are experimenting with new social protection schemes.
The main objective of this project is to investigate the social and political processes leading to the launching of BI experiments in Europe. This objective can be subdivided in two main aspects and research questions: (1) Interplay between CSOs pursuing BI schemes: Which groups mobilize for these programmes? How are broad social coalitions formed? When and why do trade unions and women organizations join these campaigns? Are these groups necessary for their success? (2) Interplay between the state and civil society: How do CSOs approach the state in pursuing universalistic social schemes? How do they build alliances in the political system? How do institutions –parliaments, political parties, governments- react to these demands? Under what conditions do politicians integrate these demands? When do politicians discard these demands and for what reasons?

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The project MOBILISE started in May 2019 at the University of Geneva. The first months were dedicated to carry out documentary research and to prepare periods of fieldwork in Britain, Spain and The Netherlands, where trials of different forms of guaranteed income had taken place in recent years. Unfortunately, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic forced me to suspend fieldwork. Overall, the pandemic led to a substantial alteration of the work plan, which was adjusted to the new circumstances of limited mobility and travel restrictions. The main changes consisted in replacing fieldwork with the analysis of secondary data (newspaper articles of major European newspapers), to study how basic income has been framed by the media in the last 15 years; and the preparation of a survey experiment that would allow testing whether individuals are more or less prone to support a basic income under different configurations of actors making the proposal for such policy. This survey was carried out in Spain.
The main results of the project MOBILISE include research articles, conference papers, presentations in workshops, and book chapters. In particular, and considering only academic publications, the outcomes so far include four peer-reviewed research articles, one book chapter. In addition to these outcomes, other publications are currently under review or in preparation:
- a research article that outlines the role of activists in the mainstreaming of universal basic income in Britain during the 2010 (article currently submitted to a sociology journal, and under review).
- a research article that study the framing of universal basic income in two major European newspapers (The Guardian, Corriere della Sera), in two countries that experimented reforms in their social assistance systems during the last decade (Britain and Italy).
- a research article that presents the results of a survey experiment in which we attempt to determine whether individuals support more or less a proposal of a universal basic income, depending on the actor(s) that make such proposal to the public.
- a book chapter, that makes the case for the recent emergence of a global social movement striving for ideas based on the notions of universal basic income, guaranteed income, citizen's income, and income security.
These outcomes will be widely disseminated after publication.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project MOBILISE has focused on an aspect that had received limited attention by the different literatures related with basic income debates, namely the role of grassroot activism in the diffusion of universal basic income, and in particular in the adoption of some of its principles (such as universality, lack of penalizations and unconditionality) by policymakers and policy officials. This issue connects the project with broader debates on the politics of basic/minimum income in advanced economies, and the political dynamics underpinning the reforms of social assistance systems in these countries.
The results of the project MOBILISE can help politicians, policy officers and academics to better understand the processes that weaken the taboos on certain policy ideas, and the dynamics that make these ideas become popular or attractive for the public and policymakers after years of being ostracized.

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