Introduction: Income Security and the “Right to Subsistence” in Japan

Abstract

A basic income (BI) “is an income paid by a political community to all its members on an individual basis, without means test or work requirement” (Van Parijs 2006: 4). This idea was first proposed in Europe at the end of the eighteenth century and gained increasing visibility during the next two centuries. In the course of the twentieth century, some British Labourites, Dutch socialists, French liberals, Catalan nationalists, Canadian greens, and many others advocated it. It was also explored by a significant number of academics, including several Nobel laureates in economics.

The editors are particularly grateful to all contributors for their wonderful commitment to this project. We also thank Sarah Lawrence, at Palgrave Macmillan, for her great editorial support. During the preparation of the book, a conference was organized at Doshisha University, Kyoto, on May 18–19, 2013. We want to thank Midori Hiraga and Sakiko Sugawa for their invaluable help during the conference, and all participants for their comments and useful suggestions. We are also grateful for financial support for the conference from MEXT KAKENHI Grant Number 21220135 and 22710266, Doshisha University, and Belgium’s Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS) for one travel grant. We also received helpful comments and suggestions from John Baker, Carl Cassegard, Margarita Estevez-Abe, Sébastien Lechevalier, and Almaz Zelleke.