Book Review: Experimenting with Unconditional Basic Income, Lessons from the Finnish BI Experiment 2017–2018 by Olli Kangas, Signe Jauhiainen, Miska Simanainen and Minna Ylikännö

Abstract

the Nordic countries; Southern and Central, let alone Eastern Europe, do not feature in the list. Perhaps it would be useful to focus attention on these parts of Europe in the future, although, understandably, the history of the development of their concept of social protection is quite different from the area of Europe Torry writes about. Central and Eastern European countries, for example, have undergone a major transformation of their whole societies, and the concept of basic income, especially in relation to the cohesion of these societies, is proving increasingly important. The final chapters of the monograph shed light on the shift of the basic income debate from the national to the global level. Torry concludes that there is now a global debate on basic income. He also argues that the recent developments in human history, brought about by (not only) the coronavirus pandemic (today, we can sadly add, by Russia’s aggression in Ukraine), make it clear that the basic income debate will not simply disappear. On the contrary, it seems that the very concept of basic income is one of the central issues of contemporary social policy. I fully agree with Torry’s latter point and would add that it is now more evident than ever that basic income and social assistance should not be seen as pawns of social law, quite the contrary. A properly designed social safety net is an increasingly important key to the success of all social policy. Torry’s monograph should become a must-read for social policy makers and social legislators, as well as for politicians at all levels, students in many humanities disciplines, and scholars. The book is both very informative and readable, and I believe it could be produced in further, expanded editions.