Getting Paid and Paying Attention
Basic Income, Theology, and Economics in a Time of Pandemic
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/rst.20144Keywords:
economy, theology, Canadian Anglican and Lutheran bishops, basic income, COVID-19, neoliberalismAbstract
This essay explores some of the theological and economic presuppositions at work in the advocacy for Universal or Guaranteed Basic Income arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is not to undermine the movement toward basic income, but to use this development – including the churches’ involvement therein – as a starting point to ask certain theological questions about the way in which this intervention has been configured in neoliberal capitalism. We argue that this intervention can serve as an individualized remedy to a growing, and ubiquitous, social and economic need as the gap between rich and poor expands. This is a logic and strategy that is commonplace in neoliberal capitalism as it denies public goods and government responsibility in favour of privatization and individual consumptive “freedom.” This essay examines the ways in which neoliberalism offers its own theological account of individual freedom, which is itself a secularized form of Christian anthropology.
References
Agamben, Giorgio. 2007. Profanations. Translated by Jeff Fort. New York: Zone.
———. 2017. “The Kingdom and the Glory.” In The Omnibus Homo Sacer. Translated by Daniel Heller-Roazen. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Barber, Daniel Colucciello. 2011. On Diaspora: Christianity, Religion, and Secularity. Eugene, OR: Cascade.
Barter, Jane. 2020. “‘Those We Do Not Know’ Thinking as Church about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.” Critical Theology 2(3): 2-6.
Bilefsky, Dan. 2020. “How Can It Happen Here? The Shocking Deaths in Canada’s Long-Term Homes.” New York Times. 17 April. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/17/world/canada/canada-coronavirus.html
Bishops (Evangelical Lutheran and Anglican). 2020. A Public Letter on Guaranteed Basic Income. Evangelical Lutheran Church and Anglican Church of Canada. 3 May. https://www.anglican.ca/news/a-public-letter-on-guaranteed-basic-income/30026458/
Bogart, Nicole. 2020. “Advocates Scramble to Help Domestic Abuse Victims as Calls Skyrocket during COVID-19.” CTV News. 5 May. https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/advocates-scramble-to-help-domestic-abuse-victims-as-calls-skyrocket-during-covid-19-1.4923109
Canadian Council of Churches [CCC]. 2020. Hope, Gratitude and Solidarity: A Message to Canadians from Religious Leaders in Canada in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Toronto: CCC. March. https://www.councilofchurches.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/A-Message-to-Canadians-from-Religious-Leaders-in-Canada-in-Response-to-the-COVID-19-Pandemic.-Final..pdf
Clarke, John. 2017. “Ontario’s Austerity Government Sets Basic Income Trap.” In Basic Income in the Neoliberal Age. Toronto: Ontario Coalition Against Poverty.
Ferguson, Scott. 2020. “Universal Basic Income: A Laissez-Faire Future?” CounterPunch. 13 November. https://www.counterpunch.org/2015/11/13/universal-basic-income-a-laissez-faire-future/
Cooperative Commonwealth Federation [CCF]. 2018. “Full Text: The CCF’s Regina Manifesto.” Canadian Dimension. 7 May. https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/the-regina-manifesto-1933-co-operative-commonwealth-federation-programme-fu
Goodchild, Philip. 2002. Capitalism and Religion: The Price of Piety. London: Taylor & Francis.
———. 2009. Theology of Money. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
———. 2020. Credit and Faith. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
Goodman, Amy and Juan Gonzalez. 2019. “Democracy Now! Speaks to Unist’ot’en Member Dr. Karla Tait on RCMP Violence.” Democracy Now! 8 January. https://unistoten.camp/democracy-now-speaks-to-unistoten-member-dr-karla-tait-on-rcmp-violence/
Gray, Jeff. 2020. “Toronto Says 30 Homeless People Diagnosed with COVID-19.” Globe and Mail. 14 April. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/toronto/article-toronto-says-30-homeless-people-diagnosed-with-covid-19/
Harvey, David. 2005. A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199283262.001.0001
Johnson, Jake. 2020. “Trump Admin Wants to Cut Social Security in Exchange for Direct COVID Payments.” Truthout. 11 May. https://truthout.org/articles/trump-admin-wants-to-cut-social-security-in-exchange-for-direct-covid-payments/
Jones, Daniel Steadman. 2013. Masters of the Universe: Hayek, Friedman and the Birth of Neoliberal Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Kotsko, Adam. 2017. The Prince of This World. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
———. 2018. Neoliberalism’s Demons: On the Political Theology of Late Capital. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Kulchyski, Peter. 2013. Aboriginal Rights Are Not Human Rights: In Defence of Indigenous Struggles. Winnipeg: ARP.
Lavinas, Lena. 2019. “Can UBI Survive Financialization?” World Economic Forum. 20 June. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/06/can-ubi-survive-financialization
Lucacs, Martin and Shiri Pasternak. 2020. “Industry, Government Pushed to Abolish Aboriginal Title at Issue in Wet’suwet’en Stand-off, Docs Reveal.” The Narwahl. 7 February. https://thenarwhal.ca/industry-government-pushed-to-abolish-aboriginal-title-at-issue-in-wetsuweten-stand-off-docs-reveal/
MacDonald, David. 2020. “The Unequal Burden of COVID-19 Joblessness.” Behind the Numbers. 8 May. http://behindthenumbers.ca/2020/05/08/unequal-burden-covid19-joblessness/
Milbank, John. 1990. Theology and Social Theory. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Million, Dian. 2013. Therapeutic Nations: Healing in an Age of Indigenous Human Rights. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
United Nations [UN]. 2007. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. New York: United Nations. 13 September. https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf
