From Justice to the Condition of Transformation. Basic Income in Cognitive Capitalism

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present the argumentation of the cognitive capitalism theoreticians for unconditional basic income, to point out its original input into the debate on this solution, and to demonstrate some of its theoretical inconsistencies and shortcomings. The originality of this approach lies in lending special significance to the thesis on the crisis of the labour theory of value and the hegemony of immaterial/biopolitical labour in cognitive capitalism. The argument of this article is that in spite of the revolutionary rhetoric sometimes present in writings of this group, researchers who belong to it perceive basic income as a crucial element of the program of reforms, which could be an answer to the current state of class struggle. Furthermore, concrete proposals of the sources of its financing, as well as arguments related to the stabilization of the system and direct improvement of the situation of people occupying the worst positions in the social structure indicates that the argumentation of the researchers using the notion of cognitive capitalism is not revolutionary, but rather reformist.

Keywords

• bezwarunkowy dochód podstawowy
• finansowanie
• kapitalizm kognitywny
• produktywność
• radykalny reformizm
• wartość