Power and Principle in the Market Place

In the global financial crisis, the need to develop a new kind of economy with a closer relation between ethics and economics has become an important challenge to the international society. This book contributes to this debate by investigating different aspects of global business ethics and corporate social responsibility which are becoming more and more important in the ongoing discussions on the relation between market institutions and democratic governments. The different chapters of the book deal with fundamental philosophical issues of the ethics of the market economy, including discussions of the role of the social sciences and economics in contributing to a sustainable economics and global responsibility in the twenty-first century. In this sense, the book takes up the transnational debate on ethics and economics in order to contribute to a more balanced, fair, just and conscientious development in the world. The book starts with a European perspective on these issues, based on philosophical, sociological and economic views from Europe. These views are further developed in order to share thoughts of how to improve corporate social responsibility, welfare and justice, and the advancement of ethical principles in the international context. It is argued that in the international community, good corporate citizenship as social and environmental responsibility is realized through individual and organizational cosmopolitan responsibility for fostering the common good for humanity. The chapters of the book were originally presented at a conference in Copenhagen, organized together with the German Cultural Institute - the Goethe Institute of Copenhagen, Copenhagen Business School and Roskilde University, Denmark.

Jacob Dahl Rendtorff is Professor of the Responsibility, Ethics and Legitimacy of Corporations at the Department of Communication, Business and Information Technologies at the Roskilde University Centre, Denmark. He is Director of Research and also Director of Business Studies at Roskilde University Centre. He published widely in the area of business ethics and corporate social responsibility.

1: Introduction; 2: Ethical Economy and Business Ethics: On the Relationships between Ethics and Economics; 3: Value Generalization 1 - Limitations and Possibilities of a Communication about Values; 4: Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Optimality and the Interests of the Poor; 5: Stakeholders, Corporate Social Responsibility and Global Markets; 6: Economics and Ethics: How to Combine Ethics and Self-Interest; 7: Business Ethics between Politics, Ethics and Economics; 8: Developing Durability: A Re-Examination of Sustainable Corporate Social Responsibility 1; 9: Global Principles (as)(or) Ethical Responsiveness: The Case of Sustainability Rhetoric; 10: Society's Constitution and Corporate Legitimacy, or Why it Might be Unethical for Business Leaders to Think with Their Heart; 11: Hide and Seek in the Dark - On the Inherent Ambiguity of CSR; 12: "Ethics of Sensitivity" - Towards a New Work Ethic: New Age in Business Life; 13: Public-Private Development of CSR on the International Stage: Reflexivity and Legitimacy; 14: Business and Poverty - Bridges and Divides; 15: The Ethical Moment: Ethics and Economy in Public Administration; 16: On Witnessing Global Ethics: A Case of International Health Research Involving Human Subjects; 17: The Cosmopolitan Story; 18: Conclusion: Outline of an Epistemological Methodology for Integrating Ethics and Economics