Basic Income, Post-Productivism and Liberalism

Abstract

This article discusses Basic Income (BI) in the context of post-productivism. It defines post-productivism as an ethic of reproductive value and argues that BI is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for the realisation of such value. However, against those who would abandon or else severely dilute liberal justifications for BI, it defends a liberal framework, albeit one that is broadly consistent with recent republican contributions to the debate. It concludes that BI can be justified as that which expands the spectrum of social goods but that a BI scheme should neither ignore those social conditions that are likely to enhance autonomy nor the social associations through which reproductive value can be promoted.