Peter Sloman is Senior Lecturer in British Politics at the University of Cambridge, UK.

Daniel Zamora Vargas is Lecturer in Sociology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.

Pedro Ramos Pinto is Senior Lecturer in International Economic History at the University of Cambridge, UK.

Provides a crucial historical depth to current and growing debates around Universal Basic Income and the future of work

Shows how the idea of a guaranteed minimum income has moved on and off political agendas over the past century and in a wide variety of political contexts

Offers a global perspective and examines the historic role of transnational networks carrying the idea between the global north and global south

1. Introduction; Peter Sloman, Daniel Zamora Vargas and Pedro Ramos Pinto.- Part I. Poverty in the Midst of Plenty: The Rise of Basic Income in Britain and the United States.- 2. Basic Income as Technocratic Liberalism: Framing a Policy Idea in Twentieth-century Britain; Peter Sloman.- 3. Basic Income in the United States, 1940-1972: How the 'Fiscal Revolution' Reshaped Social Policy; Daniel Zamora Vargas.- 4. American Cybernation: Technological Upheaval and Guaranteed Income Advocacy in 1960s USA; Andrew V. Sanchez.- 5. The Other Side of Abundance: Feminist and Ecological Arguments for Guaranteed Income in the United States, c. 1960-1980; Alyssa Battistoni.- Part II. Basic Income and the Politics of Work in Post-industrial Europe.- 6. 'Free of our labours and joined back to nature': Basic Income and the Politics of Post-work in France and the Low Countries, c. 1968-1986; Anton Jäger.- 7. Activating the Unemployed or Liberating the Employed? Universal Basic Income in the French Welfare Reform Debate; Marc-Antonie Sabaté.- 8. From 'Second Cheque Strategy' to 'Basic Income': Why did Andre Gorz Change his Mind?; Walter Van Trier.- Part III. Global Perspectives.- 9. Basic Needs and the Discovery of Global Poverty; Samuel Moyn.- 10. Jobs or Income Guarantees? The Politics of Universal Basic Income and Cash Transfers in Southern Africa; E. Fouksman.- 11. From Freedom to Finance: How Development Conditions and Paradigms Frame the Basic Income Debate; Louise Haagh.- 12. Philippe Van Parijs on the History of Basic Income: An Interview; Daniel Zamora Vargas.