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A. INTRODUCTION
As the world population has now surpassed the six and one-half
billion human beings, it is increasingly apparent that our social and
economic activities are having an adverse effect on the planet’s natural
resources and its ecological integrity. It is now clear that in order for our
societies to maintain a balance between our demand for goods and
services, our ability to deliver these goods to consumers at affordable
prices, and maintain the systems of production, distribution and
consumption, we need to address environmental degradation issues
regarding our planetary system. Yet, the drive for growth is constantly
pushing the developing and developed nations alike towards more of the
same practices that have brought us to this point, in particular since the
industrial revolution.
Societies in all parts of the globe need greater knowledge bases and
better understanding of what impacts human beings will be having on
various ecosystems as a result of their economic activities. Whether such
activities are purely at a rudimentary sustenance level, or they reflect
substantially affluent life styles, or aspiration to more affluent life styles,
there are ecological consequences for irresponsible and wasteful
economic activities with so many stakeholders involved.
The premise of SRC (Mamudi 2006) is to elevate the concept of the social
responsibility of business, from the narrow definition within the
corporate environment (CSR) to a fundamental economic factor. In the
process, we examine the concept of growth as the cornerstone of today’s
economic performance and propose a new yardstick for measuring social
and economics progress; i.e. the socio-economic model of “improvement”
instead of “growth”.
We begin by the use of an ecologically interrelated and
interdisciplinary view that we refer to as the POET model to set the stage
for our discussion (Mahmoudi1973, 2001, 2004, 2007). The POET model
incorporates four variables: (1) population, (2) social organization, (3)
environment, and (4) technology. Pioneering efforts of sociologist Otis
Dudley Duncan isolated a combination of ecological complex variables
(1961) upon which our POET model is expanding. By focusing on these
four variables, the essential components that affect the relationships
between the people, the planet’s resources and their organized way of
resource utilization can be understood.
Interdependence of POET
Technology Environment Organization Population
Growing,
healthier,
More longer
complex -living
social and population
Need for economic
greater institutions
resource
Innovation and utilization
industrialization
While we keep the holistic features of the POET model as a back drop to
our discussion, we can further elaborate on the issue of Socially
Responsible Capitalism (SRC) to add yet another dimension to the factor
O in the POET. Globalization and capitalism have become intricately
interrelated in today’s economic activities. Modern neo-liberal capitalism
has laid heavy emphasis on profits, especially those generated by multi-
national corporations and conglomerates. Growth has been a driving
force to increase profits and growth has meant not only more raw
material extraction but also more consumption. As a result, the endless
pursuit of an expanding economic system founded on a growth model
has had some devastating effects on the environmental health of our
planet. Issues such as global warming, the greenhouse effect,
deforestation, pollution of waterways, lakes, seas and oceans, to name
but a few are becoming paramount in our social consciousness.
In his book, Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher, Lewis Thomas points
out that it would be best to view the earth as a single living cell. Homo Sapiens,
being a significant component of that cell’s ecosystem and having the ability to
reason and perceive this cell’s existence, should, perhaps must, assume
stewardship with regards to this living entity. This implies a responsibility to
act in ways that would provide for the continued good health of the organism,
without which, we would not be able to exist. What framework can we use for
guidance in our responsibility to this living organism? Perhaps the ideas
articulated by Stanley Cohen regarding Moral Pragmatism can provide an
answer.
Although Stanley Cohen originally wrote his book, Visions of Social Control, as a
way for academics and citizens to view and approach the problem of crime and
its control, his reasoning could just as well be applied to social, environmental,
and sustainability issues. If we were to broaden the scope of his Moral
Pragmatism reasoning to include the topics of sustainability or improvement of
the human condition, we can then begin to apply this approach to the concept
of Socially Responsible Capitalism. Key components of Cohen’s perspective are
the concepts of “Doing Good” and “Doing Justice”. For sustaining or improving
the ecosystems or economic productivity through SRC the need for some type
of social control or action on the part of local and global governmental agencies
as well as corporations emerges. Applying moral pragmatism reasoning to a
variety of social/environmental/sustainability issues might give us insights
into how to communicate these issues to a larger body politic.
D. MORAL PRAGMATISM
As indicated above, “doing good” and “doing justice” are not absolute positions.
Rather, they represent the value judgments individuals or collectivities make
that are relative to time and place. Each action taken toward a project must be
viewed in this context. Except for the most extreme romantic position, there is
never a case that can be made for a particular individual’s (corporation’s) rights
exceeding those of the collective. (Cohen 1985, p.242) However, by taking a
morally pragmatic position, Cohen believes that rational and humanistic
decisions can be made avoiding the premature closure of inquiry that
sometimes arises when radical or conservative absolutist positions are taken.
Taking these positions will only lead to an adversarial role that will demand a
closure of intellectual inquiry and result in either "analytic despair" or
"adversarial nihilism".
Note that “doing good” and “doing justice” are not necessarily complementary
concepts. However, it is by examining these alternatives, that the values of the
society begin to be clarified and the reasoning behind certain actions or
positions become clearer.
Considering the social and environmental challenges facing the human race in
the 21st century and building on POET and Moral Pragmatism as value based
concepts that propose greater application of judgment in economic decision
making, there is a case for a fundamental change in our perception of
economic prosperity. The authors believe there is an urgent need for replacing
that most sacred of 20th century economic values, numerical growth, with a
more qualitative and sustainable measure of Economic Improvement (EI).
The growth focused capitalism, especially in the second half of the 20th century
has promoted the corporate culture of more production; the consumers desire
for more consumption; the investors’ aim of more profit, all leading to greater
and faster exploitation of natural resources. In other words, a drive toward
indefinite growth based on finite resources!
Capitalism, Globalization & the Growth Model
Greater Higher More Greater Higher
Increased
Consumption Production Resource
Value Profits Sales Utilization
This brings into focus the fallacy that environmental sustenance is possible
while improving the quality of life of the poorer societies, and yet maintaining
the developed nations thirst for continuous economic growth. On this point,
Rees further argues that “Indeed, wealthy market economies like those of the
US, Canada, most Western European countries and Japan appropriate two
to five times their equitable share of the planet’s productive land/water (and
20 times or more per capita) than the chronically impoverished. By contrast,
low-income countries like Bangladesh, Mozambique and even China, use
only a fraction of their equitable population-based allocation. The growing
income disparity between rich and poor is dramatically reflected in the
corresponding eco-footprint data.
To “do good” and “do justice” requires reassessment of the present concept of
universal economic growth and an evaluation of whether growth in itself,
given the existing parameters, is sustainable. Moving towards Socially
Responsible Capitalism we need to look at what is “good” for our planet earth
(E), and what is “just” for the most deprived segments of the human race (P),
using the available and evolving technologies (T) and enlisting not just the
corporations, but the existing or new organizations (O) capable of conducting
the required Social Impact Assessment. The following suggests relative
values for some key components of the Economic Improvement Index.
10 Global Uniformity
Growth
1 10
Performance/Utilization
CONCLUSION
Rather than a top down economic model that focuses solely on growth and the
economic gains to be realized by the company proposing a project and the
political or geographical entity in which that corporation is based, we suggest
the pragmatic model of Economic Improvement Index, utilizing the values of
“doing good” and “doing justice”. Amongst the components of EI index would
of course be a measure of greater profitability and growth, but that, alongside a
number of other factors which would provide adequate tools to measure the
company’s commitment to socially responsible behavior, not just at a local level
but also globally.
The result should be a new form of socially responsible capitalism where the
ever-growing gap between the haves and have-nots could be checked and the
threat of the total collapse of the earth eco-system brought under control.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Mahmoudi, Kooros M. “An Integrative and Holistic Model for Teaching Environmental Issues”,
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Mamudi, Mohit. “Towards a Universal Platform for CSR – The role of Communication in Global
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2006.
Mills, C. Wright, The Sociological Imagination, New York: Oxford University Press.1959.
Thomas, Lewis. Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher,