In keeping with fellow advocates of the guaranteed income, André Gorz considered our present benefit system to be ill-adapted to the volatility and insecurity of the labour market. He held, however, the allocation of an income guaranteed to all, as one of the tools of an emancipatory radical social transformation, well beyond a mere remedy to the dysfunctions of the current system. Such an income should be coupled with two series of measures: reduction of working hours, and the development of ‘autonomous activities'. We will consider the importance of these three elements to account for a significant shift in Gorz's works which will lead him to lend his support to a more radical form of universal and unconditional income in his last decade. We will stress that his philosophical and political project remained unchanged throughout this evolution: to undermine the dominance of market-based relationships and progress towards a society characterised by relationships of cooperation.
Key-words:
André Gorz; Existentialism; Unconditionality of basic income