New Zealander Max Harris wants you to change your mind. Currently based in Oxford, UK, Max is completing a PhD in Law at All Souls College, and has a particular interest in issues like whether universal basic income (UBI) is a workable response to increasing employment insecurity as the nature of work continues to change. His forthcoming book, The New Zealand Project, explores this topic amongst a variety of others, and essentially calls for a paradigm shift – towards progressive politics and a new framework for economic thinking.

Due out on April 11, the title explores everything from UBI to climate change to sexuality, to whether there’s a role for love in politics. Sarah heard Max speak about UBI at a recent conference in Salford, UK and hit him up to find out more. Here he explains how the concept could practically work, and why it might not cost governments as much as one might think.

First off, what actually is universal basic income, and how did he become interested in it?

Max is an author and academic from Aotearoa New Zealand, currently completing a PhD in Law at All Souls College in Oxford, UK. Purchase his book The New Zealand Project via Bridget Williams Books.

Sarah Illingworth is Editor at Impolitikal, and a Communications Manager with the Open University’s Learning and Teaching Innovation portfolio. She has an MSc in Poverty and Development from the University of Manchester. Read more by Sarah.