Preview of the North American Basic Income Guarantee Congress, June 17-19, 2021 

Michael Howard

Coordinator, USBIG

The annual NABIG Congress is less than a month away. The full program will be posted soon. In the meantime, I’m writing to give you a preview of a few of the exciting sessions that will be available.

Plenary sessions

The opening session on Thursday evening, June 17th, will feature mayors from Mayors for Guaranteed Income, a new organization that already has over 50 members, and a screening of the film, Inherent Good, followed by a panel of filmmakers working on basic income.

The first Friday plenary session will focus on movement building and the intersectionality of race, social justice, and environmental sustainability, including Annamie Paul, the leader of the Green Party in Canada. A second Friday plenary will be devoted to basic income pilot projects, featuring researchers working on the Stockton CA pilot project (Stacia West, Amy Baker), some experts on basic income experiments (Evelyn Forget), and others.

The first Saturday plenary session includes a panel of politicians supporting basic income: members of the Canadian Senate and Parliament, and the US Congress. A final plenary will address how the movement has grown in the last couple of years, and how to keep the momentum going.

 Over 25 parallel sessions

Between the plenaries, there will be 3 simultaneous sessions running, with such topics as Universal Basic Income (UBI) and Disabilities, Feminism and Caring Labor, Personal Stories and UBI, Climate Change, the Future of Work, Social Media Advocacy, Youth and UBI, Crypto Currencies and other financing schemes, UBI and Mental Health, Artists and UBI, a filmmakers forum, State Ballot measures and other grassroots initiatives, Universality versus Means-testing, Philosophical and Macroeconomic arguments for basic income, more discussion of particular pilot projects in the US and Canada, and a special session, UBI 101, for people new to the idea of basic income, or wanting to explore arguments for and against UBI… and much more. Check the NABIG webpage as we roll out details in the coming days. 

Opportunities for meeting and networking

The Congress will use a variety of platforms tailored to particular events. Among these is Kumospace, a platform that allows the creation of virtual rooms where people can move about and join informal conversations. There will be many of these in-between formal sessions, where you can meet up with speakers or other people attending the congress.

Who we are

The organizing committee has been meeting weekly for several months to make this virtual Congress as close to a live experience as possible. The Congress this year is a cooperative effort of USBIG, the Basic Income Canada Network, The Basic Income Canada Youth Network, the Income Movement, and Humanity Forward.

Register now!