Paper short abstract:

A presentation charting and reflecting on the journey of 'UBI Plus'

Paper long abstract:

In this presentation, I narrate the story of an experiment in unconditionality. It is the story of the journey of what we at WorkFREE call ‘UBI Plus’ – the combination of unconditional cash transfers with an unconditional approach to community organising that we piloted alongside NGO partners and our participant communities in Hyderabad over two years.

I first introduce this unconditional community organising endeavour as a relational, needs-based (RNB) approach to development/social work. I then juxtapose this RNB framework with hegemonic ‘Salvational Problem-Solving’ (SPS) practices. Next, I detail the implementation plan of our RNB or ‘Plus’ work and then offer a review of our major findings. I then share some reflections on the journey: on the nature of the major challenges we faced and the responses we developed. I conclude by arguing that, both despite and because of these challenges, we are more convinced than ever of the transformative potential of relational and unconditional approaches and, therefore, of the potential power of our UBI Plus model.