People consider me somewhat of an expert on the topic of basic income and so I’m frequently asked for book recommendations. Because of that, I’ve decided to put together a comprehensive list here on Medium which I will make a point of updating as new books are released and old books are discovered. If you don’t see a book here and think it should be listed, please let me know so I can add it.
Also, due to popular request, books of fiction that include basic income can be found at the end of this list. And if you’re looking for academic papers to read instead, here’s a great list on basicincome.org .
Note: List is ordered by release date chronological order
2019
The Case for Universal Basic Income
by Louise Haagh (May 6, 2019)
Fully Automated Luxury Communism
by Aaron Bastani (January 22, 2019)
2018
Squeezed: Why Our Families Can’t Afford America
by Alissa Quart (June 26, 2018)
Bullshit Jobs: A Theory
by David Graeber (May 15, 2018)
It’s Basic Income: The Global Debate
edited by Amy Downes and Stewart Lansley (May 15, 2018)
Basic Income and the Left: A European Debate
by Philippe Van Parijs (May 2, 2018)
Growing Pains: the future of democracy (and work)
by Gwynne Dyer (March 8, 2018)
Tomorrow 3.0: Transaction Costs and the Sharing Economy
by Michael C. Munger (March 6, 2018)
Fair Shot: Rethinking Inequality and How We Earn
by Chris Hughes (February 20, 2018)
Against Charity
by Julie Wark and Daniel Raventos (February 6, 2018)
2017
Universal Basic Income: The Irish Context
by Paul O’Brien (September 10, 2017)
Basic Income: A Guide for the Open-Minded
by Guy Standing (August 29, 2017)
A Basic Income Handbook
by Annie Miller (August 15, 2017)
Basic Income: And How We Can Make It Happen
by Guy Standing (July 25, 2017)
Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build the Ideal World
by Rutger Bregman (March 14, 2017)
Why the Future Is Workless
By Tim Dunlop (February 1, 2017)
2016
Rethink: The Surprising History of New Ideas
by Steven Poole (November 15, 2016)
No More Work: Why Full Employment Is a Bad Idea
by James Livingston (October 28, 2016)
Basic Income: How a Canadian movement could change the world
by Roderick Benns (October 13, 2016)
Citizen’s Basic Income: A Christian Social Policy
by Malcolm Torry (September 29, 2016)
What Do We Do About Inequality?
by Wicked Problems Collaborative (September 5, 2016)
Extinction: A Radical History
by Ashley Dawson (July 22, 2016)
The Feasibility of Citizen’s Income
by Malcolm Torry (July 9, 2016)
Why We Can’t Afford the Rich
by Andrew Sayer (May 15, 2016)
The Case for a Basic Income
by Robert Jameson
Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few
by Robert Reich
Alternatives to Capitalism: Proposals for a Democratic Economy
by Robin Hahnel and Erik Olin Wright
Can the Welfare State Survive?
by Andrew Gamble
Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future
by Paul Mason
The Future We Want: Radical Ideas for the New Century
by Sarah Leonard and Bhaskar Sunkara
2015
The Refusal of Work: Rethinking Post-Work Theory and Practice
by David Frayne
Free Money for All: A Basic Income Guarantee Solution for the Twenty-First Century
by Mark Walker
Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work
by Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams
101 Reasons for a Citizen’s Income: Arguments for Giving Everyone Some Money
by Malcolm Torry
Change Everything: Creating an Economy for the Common Good
by Christian Felber
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate
by Naomi Klein
Give a Man a Fish: Reflections on the New Politics of Distribution
by James Ferguson
Inequality: What Can Be Done?
by Anthony B. Atkinson
Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future
by Martin Ford
The 1% and the Rest of Us: A Political Economy of Dominant Ownership
by Tim Di Muzio
Land: A New Paradigm for a Thriving World
by Martin Adams
2014
Average Is Over: Powering America Beyond the Age of the Great Stagnation
by Tyler Cowen
The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class
by Guy Standing
A Precariat Charter: From Denizens to Citizens
by Guy Standing
A Convenient Truth: A better society for us and the planet
by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett
2013
Money for Everyone: Why We Need a Citizen’s Income
by Malcolm Torry
2012
Basic Income Worldwide: Horizons of Reform
by Matthew Murray and Carole Pateman
Basic Income Guarantee: Your Right to Economic Security
by Allan Sheahen
Basic Income Reconsidered: Social Justice, Liberalism, and the Demands of Equality
by Simon Birnbaum
2011
Citizen’s Income and Green Economics
by Clive Lord and Miriam Kennet
A Better World is Possible
by Bruce Nixon
Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition
by Charles Eisenstein
2010
Envisioning Real Utopias
by Erik Olin Wright
2009
2008
We Hold These Truths: The Hope of Monetary Reform
by Richard C. Cook
2007
Basic Income: The Material Conditions of Freedom
by Daniel Raventos
The Failed Welfare Revolution: America’s Struggle over Guaranteed Income Policy
by Brian Steensland
2006
Left Turn: Forging a New Political Future (Radical Imagination)
by Stanley Aronowitz
In Our Hands : A Plan To Replace The Welfare State
by Charles Murray
2005
2004
The End of Work
by Jeremy Rifkin
The Ethics of Stakeholding
by Keith Dowding, Jurgen De Wispelaere, Stuart White
2003
The Civic Minimum: On the Rights and Obligations of Economic Citizenship
by Stuart White
2001
What’s Wrong With a Free Lunch?
by Philippe Van Parijs
2000
The Stakeholder Society
by Bruce Ackerman and Anne Alstott (2000)
Pre-2000
Freedom and Security: An Introduction to the Basic Income Debate
by Tony Fitzpatrick (1999)
The National Tax Rebate: A New America With Less Government
by Leonard M. Greene (1998)
Real Freedom for All: What (if anything) can justify capitalism?
by Philippe Van Parijs (1998)
Building a Win-Win World: Life Beyond Global Economic Warfare
by Hazel Henderson (1997)
The $30,000 Solution: A Guarantee Annual Income for Every American
by Robert R. Schutz (1997)
… and Economic Justice for All: Welfare Reform for the 21st Century
by Michael L. Murray (1997)
Arguing for Basic Income: Ethical Foundations for a Radical Reform
by Philippe Van Parijs (1985)
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?
by Martin Luther King, Jr. (1967)
Two-Factor Theory: The Economics Of Reality
by Louis O. Kelso and Patricia Hetter
The Guaranteed Income: Next Step in Economic Evolution?
by Robert Theobald
Economic Democracy
by C. H. Douglas
Roads to Freedom
by Bertrand Russell
Basic Income in Fiction
Crisis: 2038: A Novel
by Gerald Huff (November 16, 2018)
The Expanse Book Series
by James S. A. Corey
Manna: Two Visions of Humanity’s Future
by Marshall Brain
Operation Toga: Type One Go Ahead
by John Griffin
Schrodinger’s Cat II: The Trick Top Hat
by Robert Anton Wilson
For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs
by Robert A. Heinlein
Beyond This Horizon
by Robert A. Heinlein
Maya Greenwood Book Series
by Starhawk
