Towards equal creative freedom: Universal Basic Income and the socioeconomic conditions of artistic work

2026/02/09 by David Casassas, Matías I. Zarlenga · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Art History and Market Analysis #Cultural Industries and Urban Development #Social and Cultural Dynamics

paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/09548963.2026.2626307

openalex publication_date 2026/02/09 · openalex created_date 2026/02/11 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/19

Abstract

This article explores the implications of Universal Basic Income (UBI) in the artistic sector. Firstly, it presents the tensions between artistic autonomy and the market. Secondly, it showcases some demands that have been put forward by artists responding to neoliberal precarization. Thirdly, it focuses on competing understandings of human action, artistic creation and what effectively contributing to society is, and explores the potentiality of public policy in terms of promotion of freer forms of creativity. Finally, it embraces an idea of “equal creative freedom” and makes the case for UBI as a means to universalize substantively equal socioeconomic conditions for free artistic creation.

Citations

• The Case for a Participation Income
• Systems of articulation, logics of change: Communities and scenes in popular music
• The Artworld

Discussions

• Can Universal Basic Income support freer artistic creation? New research argues for “equal creative freedom” in the arts. 🔗 doi.org/10.1080/0954... [bsky, 2 points, 0 comments]

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