The 11th North American Basic Income Guarantee Congress  

Call for Proposals 

The 11th North American Basic Income Guarantee Congress will take place

May 3-5, 2012 at the University of Toronto, on the theme of:

Putting Equality Back on the Agenda: Basic Income and Other Approaches to Economic Security for All.

While Canada, the United States, and many other OECD countries have grown increasingly unequal in recent years, equality has not been on the political agenda. Yet evidence shows that income inequality is accompanied by a range of significant negative consequences. Putting Equality Back on the Agenda will examine this growing trend of inequality and consider the option of a basic income to reduce economic disparity.
Featured speakers will include:
•    Richard Wilkinson, Professor Emeritus of Social Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham Medical School and co-author of The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better;
•    Charles Karelis, Research Professor of Philosophy at The George Washington University and Author of The Persistence of Poverty: Why the Economics of the Well-Off Can't Help the Poor;
•    Erik Olin Wright, Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, author of Envisioning Real Utopias, and American Society: How it Actually Works;
•    Armine Yalnizyan, Senior Economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives;
•    John Rook, Chair of the National Council of Welfare and CEO of Potential Place Society;
•    Evelyn Forget, Professor, University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine; and
•    Trish Hennessey, Director of Strategic Issues for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

The North American Basic Income Guarantee Congress is a joint Conference of the U.S. and Canadian Basic Income Guarantee Networks. It takes place in Canada and the United States on alternating years. Please consider submitting a proposal - activists, academics and interested citizens welcome!
Scholars, activists, and others are invited to propose papers or presentations, organize panel discussions, or submit posters. Proposals are welcome on the following topics:
•    What are the costs of economic disparity (economic, social and political)?
•    What are the implications for pursuing (or not pursuing) basic income options?
•    What are possible models for generating revenue to sustain a basic income and what are their implications for economic disparity?
•    What are the practical issues for implementing a basic income policy and what are their implications for economic disparity?
•    What communication and engagement strategies are necessary to raise awareness about economic disparity and basic income in the public sphere?
All points of view are welcome. Anyone interested in presenting, organizing a panel, or displaying a poster should submit an abstract of their proposal to the chair of the organizing committee at basicincome2012@gmail.com.
Please include the following information with your proposal:
1. Name(s)


2. Affiliation(s)


3. Address


4. City, Province/State, Postal/Zip Code, and Country
5. Telephone


6. Email Address(es)


7. Paper/Presentation/Panel/Poster Title


8. Abstract of 50-150 words
DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: January 31st, 2012
Proposals for panel discussions should include a title, topic, and description of the panel and the information above for each participant. If the participants are not presenting formal papers, the title of the paper and abstract may be omitted. Panels should be limited to four presentations.
REGISTRATION
Registration will open on February 8th, 2012.
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
Canada Without Poverty

Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership

National Council of Welfare/Conseil national du bien-être social

University of Toronto Faculty of Social Work

University of Regina Faculty of Social Work

Basic Income Network Canada/Réseau Canadien Pour Le Revenue Garanti

The US Basic Income Guarantee Network

Citizens for Public Justice

News on Basic Income

Blog-article: A message of Hope for the Greek People: the case for a basic income
February 20 2012

http://www.tetedequenelle.fr/2012/02/greece-basic-income [more]

Article: Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities: For the Welfare of All
February 19 2012

http://www.hannaharendtcenter.org/?p=4325 [more]

What is a BIG?

The basic income guarantee (BIG) is a government insured guarantee that no citizen's income will fall below some minimal level for any reason. All citizens would receive a BIG without means test or work requirement. BIG is an efficient and effective solution to poverty that preserves individual autonomy and work incentives while simplifying government social policy. Some researchers estimate that a small BIG, sufficient to cut the poverty rate in half could be financed without an increase in taxes by redirecting funds from spending programs and tax deductions aimed at maintaining incomes. Click here for more information.

A Belorussian translation

The USBIG Network

The U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network (The USBIG Network) is an informal group promoting the discussion of the basic income guarantee in the United States. USBIG (pronounced "U.S big") publishes an email newsletter (subscription 500) every two months, maintains an on-line discussion paper series, and has yearly conferences.

USBIG was founded in December 1999 by Fred Block of University of California-Davis, Charles M. A. Clark of St. John's University, Pamela Donovan of the City University of New York, Michael Lewis of the State University of New York-Stony Brook, and Karl Widerquist then of the Levy Economics Institute. The USBIG Coordinating Committee has nine members: Michael Howard of the University of Maine (Coordinator); Karl Widerquist, now of Reading University (Newsletter Editor); Al Sheahen, author (Public Relations Coordinator, alsheahen@prodigy.net); Steve Shafarman, author (Activist Coordinator, steve@IncomeSecurityForAll.org); Michael Lewis, Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College; Eri Noguchi of Columbia University; and Almaz Zelleke of The New School; Dan O'Sullivan of Rise Up Economics danosully@gmail.com;  Jason Murphy ^{murphyjb@slu.edu} Click here for more information, or email (michael.howard@umit.maine.edu).

Last updated - 12.01.2012-18:26