Dr Guy Standing is Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences, and Professorial Research Associate, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He was formerly Professor of Economic Security at the University of Bath, and Director of Socio-Economic Security in the International Labour Organisation. He is a co-founder and honorary co-president of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), an international network that promotes universal basic income security.
How private corporations stole the sea from the commons
My new book, ‘The Blue Commons’, argues that the only way to stop – and reverse – the destruction and depletion of marine resources and ecosystems is to revive the ethos of the sea as a commons, managed for the benefit of all by those whose lives and livelihoods depend on it.
August 2, 2022
Global transformation: the precariat overcoming populism
The challenge before us is that if we want a Green Left Transformation we must forge a cross-class alliance built around the aspirations of the Progressives in the precariat, a revival of the commons and a green-blue vision of a sustainable balance between humanity and nature.
February 3, 2021
The Case for a Basic Income
A basic income system would aim to assure basic economic security to all, independent of employment, by providing every legal resident of a country with an equal monthly sum of money, without conditions, as an economic right.
November 24, 2020
Class Politics Fit for the Times
I have come to think that the themes we on the Left should be coalescing around are dismantling rentier capitalism, offering a new income distribution system in which basic income divorced from the performance of labor is the anchor, and reviving all forms of commons and commoning.
April 30, 2020
What has a Year of Experiments Taught us about Basic Income?
As a long-time proponent of basic income, and as someone who has been involved in pilots in four continents, the past year has been a roller coaster, perhaps summarised as two steps forward, one step back, with marks for progress as six out of 10. It will take acts of courage to move forward decisively in 2019, but more doors are opening.
January 6, 2020
The Precariat: Today’s Transformative Class?
The precariat, a mass class defined by unstable labor arrangements, lack of identity, and erosion of rights, is emerging as today’s “dangerous class.” As its demands cannot be met within the current system, the precariat carries transformative potential.
October 25, 2018