Guy Standing (economist)

Standing was born on 9 February 1948.[4] He gained his bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Sussex in 1971. After taking a masters in labour economics and industrial relations at the University of Illinois, he received his doctorate in economics from the University of Cambridge in 1977.[5]

From 1975 to 2006, Standing worked at the International Labour Organization, latterly as director of the ILO's Socio-Economic Security Programme.[5] The programme was responsible for a major report on socio-economic security worldwide[6] and for creation of the Decent Work Index.[7]

From April 2006 to February 2009, he held a position of Professor of Labour Economics, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.[5] In 2006, he became professor of economic security at the University of Bath, leaving in 2013 to become professor of development studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.[5] Since October 2015 he has worked in Professorial Research Associate, SOAS, University of London, UK.[5] He was also working on "pilot basic income schemes in India" and on topics connected to his two recent books, The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class (2011) and A Precariat Charter: From Denizens to Citizens (2014).[8]

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, Standing argued in 2021 that the pandemic's consequences showed that a universal basic income was inevitable. Standing has also endorsed a carbon tax as a means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.[9]

He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.[10]

Part of a series on
Organised labour
Labour movement Timeline New unionism Proletariat Social movement unionism Social democracy Democratic socialism Socialism Communism Syndicalism Anarcho-syndicalism National-syndicalism
Labour rights Freedom of association Collective bargaining Child labour Unfree labour Equal pay Employment discrimination Legal working age Four-day week Eight-hour day Annual leave Paid time off Sick leave Minimum wage Occupational safety and health Employment protection
Trade unions Trade unions by country Trade union federations International comparisons ITUC WFTU
Strike action Chronological list of strikes Hartal General strike Bandh newspapers Green bans Lockouts Overtime bans Pen-down strikes Sitdown strikes Solidarity action Walkouts Whipsaw strikes Wildcat strikes Work-to-rule
Labour parties Australia Barbados Brazil Fiji Georgia Hong Kong Ireland Israel Malta New Caledonia New Zealand Netherlands Norway Portugal Singapore South Korea United Kingdom Sweden
Academic disciplines Industrial relations Labour economics Labour history Labour law

Standing's best-known book is The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class, published in 2011.[11] In it, he blames globalisation for having plunged more and more people into the precariat, which he analyses as a new emerging social class.[12] According to Standing, the precariat is not only suffering from job insecurity but also identity insecurity and lack of time control, not least due to workfare social policies.

Standing in 2014

Standing describes the precariat as an agglomerate of several different social groups, notably immigrants, young educated people, and those who have fallen out of the old-style industrial working class.[13]

Standing calls on politicians to make ambitious social reforms towards ensuring financial security as a right. He argues for an unconditional basic income as an important step to a new approach,[14] stating that it would create economic growth.[15] If politicians fail to take the necessary decisions, he predicts a wave of anger and violence,[16] and the rise of far-right parties.[17]

In August 2015, Standing endorsed Jeremy Corbyn's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election.[18]

• The Blue Commons: Rescuing the Economy of the Sea. London: Pelican Books. 2022. ISBN 978-0-24-147-58-74.
• Basic income: and how we can make it happen. London: Pelican/Penguin (A Pelican Introduction). 2017. ISBN 978-0-14-198549-7.
• The Corruption of Capitalism: Why Rentiers Thrive and Work Does Not Pay. London: Biteback. 2016. ISBN 978-1-78590-044-0.
• Basic Income: A Transformative Policy for India (with S. Davala, R. Jhabvala and S. Kapoor Mehta. London and New Delhi: Bloomsbury Academic. 2015. ISBN 978-1-4725-8310-9.
• A Precariat Charter: from denizens to citizens. London New York: Bloomsbury Academic. 2014. ISBN 978-1-4725-1039-6.
• The Precariat. London: Bloomsbury Academic. 2011. ISBN 978-1-84966-455-4.
• Standing, Guy; Jhabvala, Renana; Unni, Jeemol; Rani, Uma (2010). Social income and insecurity: a study in Gujarat. London New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-58574-3.
• Work after globalization: building occupational citizenship. Cheltenham, UK Northampton, Massachusetts: Edward Elgar. 2009. ISBN 978-1-84844-778-3.
• Promoting income security as a right Europe and North America. London: Anthem Press. 2005. ISBN 978-0-85728-732-8.
• Standing, Guy; November, Andràs (2003). Un revenu de base pour chacun(e). Genève: Bureau international du travail. ISBN 9789222151264.
• Standing, Guy; Samson, Michael (30 September 2003). A Basic Income Grant for South Africa. Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press. ISBN 978-1-919713-86-1.
• Beyond the new paternalism: basic security as equality. London New York: Verso. 2002. ISBN 978-1-85984-345-1.
• Global labour flexibility: seeking distributive justice. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1999. ISBN 978-0-333-77652-0.

• Basic income in the United Kingdom
• Decent work
• Policy Network

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Guy Standing (economist).

• Official website
• Staff profile at SOAS
• Le précariat: "une classe en devenir", interview for French webzine Basta!, October 2012
• Conference of Guy Standing at the University of Sydney on YouTube, February 2012
• Precariat And Peasant: Reframing Social Protection For The 21st Century on YouTube, July 2013