In Switzerland, the idea of basic income was most probably first discussed in the early 1990s. It was rather an academic debate, with sociologists and ethicists calling for the introduction of a basic income in order to better fight poverty as well as unemployment and to better meet abstract requirements of justice. However, at that time, poverty and unemployment were not seen as severe problems that should be tackled with basic income and there was, and still is, a deeply ingrained stereotype of a Swiss work ethos, that can be traced back to the reformation in Switzerland and the corresponding protestant ethic. Furthermore, the Swiss are said to prefer pragmatic step-by-step solutions to problems, and the basic income idea appeared to them as a rather utopian, visionary idea that couldn’t be implemented then. So the idea, that every person should get an income without working for it, found no echo in the Swiss public discussion about welfare reform in the 1990s – there was even almost no reaction or critique referring to the idea.Later, there was obviously a strong impulse needed to reactivate the basic income idea in the Swiss context. This impulse fortunately was given as a broader discourse developed in Germany. More and more organizations and personalities began to seize the idea in Germany, and, beginning in about 2004, this discourse partially spilled over to Switzerland.
Now, there are a few small organizations trying to spread the idea. Among others, there is the “Initiative Grundeinkommen” in Basle that is inspired by German basic income proponents. Also, there is BIEN-Switzerland and an ATTAC-group favoring publicly the idea. Partly, those organizations were successful, for example with articles, printed in broadly read newspapers or with public panel discussions. And BIEN-Switzerland organized a big conference in Basle on basic income together with the German and Austrian networks (and ATTAC) in 2007. This had a small impact and got some public interest. At least, the basic income idea is now increasingly perceived and criticized, for example as not being realizable. So there is a debate slowly developing. Arguments in favor of basic income center on its desirability in the fight against poverty and unemployment and on the presumed fact that there is less and less paid work. Basic income is seen as a good means to reduce dependency from the labor market, which is no longer able to integrate all citizens. Some Swiss left-wing thinkers consider basic income to constitute a first step to overcome capitalism. Other arguments, situated rather on the political right wing, focus on basic income as a means to simplify the complicated Swiss social security system and even to reduce government spending.
But generally, I would say that the idea of an unconditional basic income has still not reached public discourse in Switzerland yet. On the one hand, there are some small organizations favoring it. But they generally lack the manpower and financial means to start bigger campaigns. On the other hand, there are some scholars who publicly argue for basic income, but they are often seen as utopists and their arguments are most frequently overheard. All in all, the Swiss context seems to be an infertile ground for spreading the basic income idea. Last but not least because of its cultural particularities. Therefore, the basic income idea is often perceived as a utopia that is only situated in the wonderland of dreams. To classify the basic income idea as u-topian, however, means to literally state that there is no “place” for it in a certain cultural and historical background. To counter this view, it is important to make the case that in a specific cultural or historic context of a certain country (like Switzerland), there are “places” to which the idea of a basic income can be linked; that means to show, that there is a relationship between the basic income idea and certain institutional or cultural characteristics of a country, and thus, that there is a fertile ground, that may serve as a basis for spreading the idea.
Eric Patry
Research Assistant
Institute for Business and Economic Ethics
University of St. Gallen
Guisanstrasse 11
9010 St. Gallen
Switzerland
