Book Launch 27th Feb 4-5pm Education Building, Maynooth University
The idea that healthcare and education should be provided as universal public services to all who need them is widely accepted. But why leave it there? Why not expand it to more of life’s essentials?
In her bold new book, co-authored with Andrew Percy, the case for Universal Basic Services is set out in detail: what it means, why it matters and how it can be achieved in practice. Anyone who cares about fighting for a fairer, greener and more democratic world will find these arguments worth careful consideration. Anna Coote argues that this transformational new policy – Universal Basic Services (UBS) – is what we need to save our societies and our planet.
The old argument that free markets and individual choice are the best way to solve pressing problems of poverty, inequality and environmental degradation has led us to catastrophe, and must be abandoned. Expanding the principle of collective universal service provision to everyday essentials such as care, housing and transport is the best way to tackle many of the biggest problems facing the contemporary world. It is equitable, efficient and sustainable – and it builds solidarity. For all these reasons and more, UBS offers a progressive, practical and affordable alternative to dependence on cash transfers and market transactions
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Chair: Prof Sean O Riain (Sociology, MU) Speaker: Dr Anna Coote, Principal Fellow, New Economics Foundation Discussant: Dr Tony McCashin (TCD)
Anna Coote & Andrew Percy (2020) The Case for Universal Basic Services Polity Press
Reclaim the collective ideal and work together to meet needs we all share by enlarging the social wage