The global Basic Income debate is now widespread, diverse, and relatively well resourced by academic and more popular literature: but that does not mean that there is universal agreement about every topic of discussion. In fact, there is still a quite heated debate about some of the most basic questions, such as What is a Basic Income? Whats the point?, and Is it feasible?

This book is not yet another general introduction to Basic Income. There are already plenty of those. It is entirely about those aspects of the debate about which there is most discussion and sometimes the most conflict. It is based on conference papers, previously published chapters, and other previously published articles, working papers, and reports: material that has already benefited from consultation and debate, as is appropriate for a book about aspects of a debate that are the subject of frequent consultation and discussion.

Malcolm Torry is a visiting fellow at the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Bath and a trustee and treasurer of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN). He was previously the director of the Citizens Basic Income Trust and a senior visiting fellow at the London School of Economics.

1.Basic Income: What, why, and how? Introductory chapter.- 2.Defining Basic Income.- 3.     Unconditional and universal.- 4. Basic Income and Basic Income schemes.- 5.Basic Income as the preserver and transformation of capitalism.- 6.The mode of delivery is important.- 7.Only for children?.- 8.Basic Income is feasible.- 9.Speenhamland is irrelevant.- 10.Testing different routes to a Basic Income.- 11.A Basic Income at the level of Minimum Income Standards?.- 12.What (if anything) can justify Basic Income pilot projects?.- 13.Factors influencing political decisions about social security benefits in the UK.- 14.Research and education in the UK debate.- 15.Political feasibility in the UK.- 16.Microsimulation research in the UK.- 17.What a Basic Income is, why it matters, and how it might come about.