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The Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) was founded in 1986 as
the Basic Income European Network.
It expanded its scope from European to the Earth in 2004. It
is an international network that serves as a link between
individuals and groups committed to or interested in basic
income, and fosters informed discussion of the topic
throughout the world.
To that end it organizes Congresses every two years, and
publishes a free email NewsFlash every two months and it
helps support the journal Basic Income Studies.
BIEN is supported by individuals members from throughout the
world.
BIEN is affiliated with sixteen national networks throughout
the world.
Mission Statement
Founded in 1986, the
Basic Income European Network (BIEN) aims to
serve as a link between individuals and groups committed to,
or interested in, basic income, i.e. an income
unconditionally granted to all on an individual basis,
without means test or work requirement, and to foster
informed discussion on this topic throughout Europe.
Members of BIEN include academics, students and social
policy practitioners as well as people actively engaged in
political, social and religious organisations. They vary in
terms of disciplinary backgrounds and political affiliations
no less than in terms of age and citizenship. In the course
of two decades, "BIEN" has become somewhat of a misnomer, as
scholars and activists from other continents have actively
joined the network.
Common to all is the belief that some sort of economic right
based upon citizenship - rather than upon one's relationship
to the production process or one's family status - is called
for as part of the just solution to social problems in
advanced societies. Basic Income, conceived as a universal
and unconditional, if modest, continuous stream of income
granted throughout life to all members of a political
community is just the simplest and most striking element in
an expanding set of social policy proposals inspired by this
belief and currently debated, if not already implemented.
To actively foster this debate, BIEN publishes a newsletter
which provides an up-to-date and comprehensive international
overview on relevant events and publications. It organises
bi-annual BIEN-congresses where people from more than twenty
countries have met to report and discuss basic income and
related proposals in connection with a broad spectrum of
themes, such as unemployment, European integration, poverty,
development, changing patterns of work career and family
life, and principles of social justice.
Executive Committee
BIEN's Executive
Committee is elected by the General Assembly for
a period extending to the latter's next meeting. The
Executive Committee can co-opt other people for specific
tasks, but without voting rights. It meets at least once a
year at the Secretary's initiative. Within the limits set by
the decisions of the General Assembly, it takes any action
it judges useful to the pursuit of BIEN's purposes.
Current Members of the Executive Committee (2008-2010 Term):
Co-chairs
Ingrid VAN NIEKERK
ivanniekerk@epri.org.za,
Economic Policy Research Institute, Cape Town, South Africa
Karl WIDERQUIST
Karl@Widerquist.com,
University of Reading, United Kingdom
Secretary
David CASASSAS
david.casassas@uab.cat,
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
Treasurer-Fundraiser
Almaz ZELLEKE
zellekea@newschool.edu,
The New School, New York, USA
Newsflash editor
Yannick VANDERBORGHT
yannick.vanderborght@uclouvain.be,
Facultés universitaires Saint Louis in Brussels, and
Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium
Website manager
Simon BIRNBAUM
simon.birnbaum@statsvet.su.se,
Department of Political Science, Stockholm University,
Sweden
Regional Coordinators and Fundraisers
Louise HAAGH
lh11@york.ac.uk,
Department of Politics, University of York, United Kingdom
Eri NOGUCHI
en16@columbia.edu,
Columbia University, New York, USA
James MULVALE
jim.mulvale@uregina.ca,
University of Regina, Regina, Canada (nonvoting)
Honorary Co-Presidents
Eduardo SUPLICY
esuplicy@senado.gov.br,
Federal Senator, São Paulo, Brazil
Guy STANDING
guystanding@compuserve.com,
Professor of Economic Security, University of Bath, United
Kingdom, and Professor of Labour Economics, Monash
University, Australia
Members of the International Advisory Board
The International Board consists of the current members of
the Executive Committee (listed above), the representatives
of the recognized national affiliates (listed below) and all
the former members of BIEN's Executive Committee.
Chair:
Philippe Van Parijs
Former members of BIEN's Executive Committee:
Alexander de Roo
Jurgen De Wispelaere
Seán Healy
Edwin Morley-Fletcher
José Antonio Noguera
Claus Offe
Ilona Ostner
Steven Quilley
Robert J. van der Veen
Walter Van Trier
Lieselotte Wohlgenannt
National affiliates
To date, BIEN has recognised sixteen national basic income
networks. Four national organisations applied for and became
BIEN affiliates at the General Assembly in June 2008. The
new BIEN affiliates represent the nations of Canada, Italy,
Japan, and Mexico.
ARGENTINA: Red Argentina de Ingreso Ciudadano
Founded in March 2004
www.ingresociudadano.org.
President: Rubén M. Lo Vuolo
Member of BIEN’s International Advisory Board: Rubén Lo
Vuolo
ciepp@ciepp.org.ar
AUSTRALIA: Basic Income Guarantee Australia (BIGA)
Founded in 2002
www.basicincome.qut.edu.au
Coordinator: John Tomlinson (j.tomlinson@qut.edu.au)
Quensland University of Technology
School of Humanities and Human Services
Beams Rd.
Carseldine
Australia 4034
Tel.: +07 38644528
Fax.: +07 38644995
AUSTRIA: Netzwerk Grundeinkommen und sozialer Zusammenhalt -
B.I.E.N. Austria
Founded in October 2002
www.grundeinkommen.at
Coordinator: Margit Appel
redaktion@ksoe.at
margit.appel@ksoe.at
Spokesperson: Markus Blümel
markus.bluemel@ksoe.at
Schottenring 35/DG
A-1010 Wien
BRAZIL: Rede Brasileira de Renda Básica de Ciudadania
Founded in September 2004
Coordinator: Eduardo Suplicy
eduardo.suplicy@senador.gov.br
CANADA: BIEN Canada
Founded in June 2008
Coordinator: Jim Mulvale
jim.mulvale@uregina.ca
Dept. of Justice Studies
University of Regina
Regina, Saskatchewan, S4S 0A2 Canada
Tel: (306) 585 4237
Fax: (306) 585 4815
DENMARK: Borgerlønsbevægelsen
Founded in January 2000
www.borgerloen.dk
President: Jørg Gaugler
per@borgerloen.dk
GERMANY: Netzwerk Grundeinkommen
Founded in July 2004
www.grundeinkommen.de
Spokespersons: Reimund Acker, Ronald Blaschke, Jan Heider,
Dagmar Paternoga, Johannes Ponader, Christoph Schlee,
Dorothee Schulte-Basta, Martina Steinheuer,
Theophil Wonneberger, Birgit Zenker
kontakt@grundeinkommen.de
IRELAND: BIEN Ireland
Founded in March 1995
Coordinator: John Baker
John.Baker@ucd.ie
Member of BIEN's International Advisory Board: John Baker
Equality Studies Centre
University College Dublin
Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
Tel.: +353-1-716 7104, Fax: +353-1-716 1171
ITALY: Bin Italia (Basic Income Network Italy)
Founded in July 2008
http://www.bin-italia.org
President: Luca Santini (luca.santini@bin-italia.org)
Contact person: Sandro Gobetti (sandro.gobetti@bin-italia.org;
sgobetti@regione.lazio.it)
Member of BIEN’s International Advisory Board: Sandro
Gobetti
Email:
info@bin-italia.org
Address: Via Apollodoro 4, cap 00053, Civitavecchia Rome,
Italy
Tel.: Luca Santini (BIN Italy President): +39 3487752116
Andrea Fumagalli (BIN Italia Vice-President): +39
3407307708
Sandro Gobetti (BIN communication referent and Bin Report)
+39 3334375476
JAPAN: Basic Income Japanese Network
Founded in November 2007
Coordinator: Toru Yamamori
toruyamamori@gmail.com
http://www1.doshisha.ac.jp/~tyamamor/bijnenglish.html
c/o Dr. Toru Yamamori, Faculty of Economics,
Doshisha University, Karasuma-Higashi-iru,
Imadegawa-dori, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, 602-8580, Japan
MEXICO: Red Mexicana Ingreso Ciudadano Universal
Founded in April 2008
Coordinator: Pablo Yanes (ingresociudadano@gmail.com;
pyanes2007@gmail.com)
Member of BIEN’s International Advisory Board: Pablo Yanes
Website:
http://www.icu.org.mx
NETHERLANDS - Vereniging Basisinkomen
Coordinator: Guido den Broeder
Igor Stravinskisingel 50
3069MA Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Tel.: 010-4559538 or 070-3859268
E-mail:
info@basisinkomen.nl
http://www.basisinkomen.nl
SPAIN: Red Renta Basica
Founded in February 2001
www.redrentabasica.org
President: Daniel Raventós
Member of BIEN's International Advisory Board: Daniel
Raventós
presidencia@redrentabasica.org
or
danielraventos@ub.edu
Príncep d’Astúries 56, àtic
08012 Barcelona, Spain
Tel.: +34.93.402.90.51, Fax: +34.93.322.65.54
SWITZERLAND: BIEN Switzerland
Founded in September 2002
President: Pierre Hérold
c/o Jean-Daniel Jimenez
jean-da.jimenez@bluewin.ch
39, rue Louis-Favre
1201 Geneva
Tel.: +41 22 733 41 09 or +41 78 847 47 56
UNITED KINGDOM: Citizen's Income Trust
Founded in 1984 (initially as "Basic Income Research Group")
www.citizensincome.org
Director: Malcolm Torry
Member of BIEN's International Advisory Board: Malcolm Torry
info@citizensincome.org
Citizens Income Trust, P.O. Box 26586,
London SE3 7WY, United Kingdom.
Tel.: 44-20-8305 1222
Fax: 44-20-8305 1802
UNITED STATES: U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network (USBIG)
Founded in December 1999
www.usbig.net
Coordinator: Karl Widerquist (karl@widerquist.com)
Member of BIEN's International Advisory Board: Michael Lewis
A Short History of BIEN
The origins (1983-1986) -
An idea, a collective, a prize. In the Autumn of 1983, three
young researchers decided to set up a working group in order
to explore the implications of an extremely simple, unusual
but attractive idea which one of them had proposed to call,
in a paper circulated a few months earlier, "allocation
universelle". Paul-Marie Boulanger, Philippe Defeyt and
Philippe Van Parijs were then, or had recently been,
attached to the departments of demography, economics and
philosophy, respectively, of the Catholic University of
Louvain (Belgium). The group became known as the
Collectif Charles Fourier.
Its main output was a special issue of the Brussels monthly
La Revue nouvelle
(April 1985). But along the way, it won a prize, with a
provocative summary of the idea and its putative
consequences, in an essay competition on the future of work
organised by the King
Baudouin Foundation.
The first meeting -
With the money it thus unexpectedly earned, the
Collectif Charles Fourier
decided to organise a meeting to which they would invite a
number of people to whom the idea of an unconditional basic
income had, they gradually discovered, independently
occurred . This became the first iinternational conference
on basic income, held in Louvain-la-Neuve in September 1986,
with sixty iinvited participants. This was quite an
extraordinary event, with many seemingly lonely fighters
suddenly discovering a whole bunch of kin spirits. They
included, among others, Gunnar Adler-Karlsson, Jan-Otto
Andersson, Peter Ashby, Yoland Bresson, Paul de Beer,
Alexander de Roo, Nic Douben, Ian Gough, Pierre Jonckheere,
Bill Jordan, Greetje Lubbi, Edwin Morley-Fletcher, Claus
Offe, Riccardo Petrella, David Purdy, Guy Standing, Robert
van der Veen and Georg Vobruba.
Seeds of a lasting network -
At the final session of the conference, several participants
expressed the wish that some more permanent association be
created, with the task of publishing a regular newsletter
and organising regular conferences. Guy Standing proposed
calling this association
Basic Income European
Network, which gathered an easy consensus, since
no one could beat the beauty of the corresponding acronym
(BIEN). Its purpose, later enshrined in its Statutes, was
formulated as follows: BIEN aims to serve as a link between
individuals and groups committed to or interested in basic
income, and to foster informed discussion on this topic
throughout Europe.Peter Ashby (National Council for
Voluntaty organisations), Claus Offe (University of Bremen)
and Guy Standing (International Labour Organisation) became
co-chairmen. Walter Van Trier (University of Antwerp) became
secretary, and Alexander de Roo (parliamentary assistant at
the European Parliament) treasurer.
BIEN's past and current activities -
From 1986 on, in addition to smaller events, BIEN has been
organising one major
international
congress
every second year, in an increasingly structured and
professional way. In each case, a major academic or
international organisation has accepted to host it, and
financial support has been forthcoming from many sources,
both public and private, both national and international.
BIEN's first two congresses were small enough to lend
themselves to the publication of proceedings, but subsequent
congresses had far too many contributions for them to fit
into a volume of proceedings. Many of the papers presented
were independently published and several found their ways
into two books largely inspired by BIEN's congresses:
v
Philippe Van Parijs (ed.), Arguing for Basic Income.
Ethical Foundations for a Radical Reform.
Londres e Nova York: Verso, 1992
v Robert J. van der Veen & Loek Groot (eds.), Basic Income
on the Agenda.
Policy Options and Political Feasibility.
Amsterdã: Amsterdam University Press, 2000
v
Standing, G. (ed.), Promoting Income Security as a Right.
Europe and North America, Londres: Anthem Press, 2005
Since 1988 BIEN published a
Newsletter
three times per year since 1988 (33 issues, some in
collaboration with the London-based
Citizen's
Income Study Center).
Publication of the
Newsletter has been discontinued, but instead
since January 2000 BIEN has started publishing a regular
NewsFlash.
BIEN'sNewsFlash
appears every second month and is dispatched electronically
to over half a thousand subscribers. It can also be
downloaded from the BIEN web. Finally, since 1996 BIEN
maintains a very substantial website, which includes, among
other items, a very substantial annotated bibliography.
After its Congress in Barcelona (2004), BIEN extended its
scope: now its name is Basic Income
Earth
Network. All life members of the Basic Income European
Network, many of whom were non-Europeans, automatically
became life members of the Basic Income Earth Network.
Contact:
bien@basicincome.org
The Basic Income Earth Network c/o
Chaire Hoover d'éthique économique et sociale, Université
catholique de Louvain
Place Montesquieu, 3, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, BELGIUM
More information about BIEN:
www.basicincome.org |
