New Project Explores Basic Income in Sheffield

Post by - Sam Walby

Perspectives on Basic Income, a film and audio project exploring the potential of basic income in Sheffield, was exhibited at The Art House from 20th to 30th September as part of Festival of the Mind 2018.

A collaboration between UBI Lab Sheffield, Prof. Andrew Gamble (University of Sheffield) and Between Their Eyes Film, the project follows three people living and working in Sheffield and looks at how a basic income could transform their lives.

Tchiyiwe is an asylum worker and activist, Nigel is an 'active citizen', and Kate is a small business owner. Through short video interviews, we explore their contributions to the local community and economy, how much of this work is unpaid but undeniably valuable to society, and how a stable, unconditional income would change their situation.

We also spoke to the citizens of Sheffield in a series of audio vox pops about Basic Income, as well as a range of people working in the city across a variety of sectors, in both paid and voluntary roles. The feedback was fascinating: a mixture of positive and negative responses, with plenty of people interested to learn more about the concept.

While the exhibition at The Art House has now ended, the mini-site housing all the video and audio content is available online.

Our hope is that Perspectives on Basic Income contributes to an ongoing local, national and international debate about how we define work, the value of human activity, automation and our obligations to look after each other in a rapidly-changing world.

As a group, we will continue to advocate for a pilot or trial of Basic Income in Sheffield, because we believe it is an idea that is worth exploring.

More about the author

Sam Walby - Now Then Magazine Editor in Chief

Sam is editor-in-chief of Sheffield magazine Now Then, as well as a director at Opus Independents, its parent company. Now Then champions independence in art, trade and journalism, with all articles written by local people.