From Social Wealth Funds to Universal Basic Income, the Precariat Age Demands Far-Reaching Solutions to Dismantle Mass Inequality

A sculpture depicting a tightrope walker is seen in the Sweden's largest temporary camp for refugges at the former psychiatric hospital Restad Gard on February 12, 2016 in Vanersborg, Sweden. (Photo: David Ramos/Getty Images)

From Social Wealth Funds to Universal Basic Income, the Precariat Age Demands Far-Reaching Solutions to Dismantle Mass Inequality

Global capitalism is roiling class structure and forging a new mass class of precarious workers. The fight for a universal basic income can help catalyze this “precariat” as a transformative change agent.

Editor's Note: The following is an excerpt from Guy Standing's new essay "The Precariat: Today's Transformative Class?" on the Great Transition Initiative website.

According to Guy Standing--author of "The Precariat" and the forthcoming "Reviving the Commons: A Progressive Response to Austerity"--both capitalism and, in accordance, class structure have changed significantly since the 1970s. The multinational corporations of Big Finance, Big Tech, and Big Pharma have ushered in a "rentier capitalism," and the once-powerful proletariat has been weakened by deindustrialization, offshoring, and a perfect storm of neoliberal policies. The neoliberal state and rentier economy, however, have given rise to a new class, which Standing calls the "precariat," defined by unstable labor arrangements, lack of identity, and an erosion of rights. Will this new class be able to organize in favour of a broader social transformation? Perhaps, and policies like a universal basic income will be a central part of it.

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