The purpose of this article is to call for the formulation and adoption of a declaration on the universal rights and duties of business. We do not attempt to define the specific contents of such a declaration, but rather attempt to explain why such a declaration is needed and what would be some of its general characteristics. The catalyst for this call was the recognition that even under optimal conditions, good companies sometimes are susceptible to moral lapses, and when companies (...) undertake ventures in authoritarian countries with poor human rights records, even those with the best intentions may find themselves drawn into complicity in human rights abuses. There, market exigencies may persuade them to leave their codes of ethics and commitments to human rights at home. Pragmatism, it would seem, requires thatthey accept the ethical inconsistencies that follow from a “When in Rome, do as they Romans do” outlook. When facing the moral dilemma about whether or not to invest in human rights abusing countries, companies are offered two alternatives: they can operate in those countries and accept potential complicity or they can stay away. We suggest, however, that a preferable option is to address the underlying problem, and to this end we advocate the promulgation of a declaration for business that is comparable to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Our proposed name for this is the “Declaration on the Universal Rights and Duties of Business.” To be effective, such a declaration would require enforcement mechanisms. To illustrate this issue, we focus on China, not because China is unique in its human rights abuses, but because China occupies such a central place in the globalization efforts of the major companies from around the world. A robust international declaration is needed to provide a common framework for the practice of consistent and fair business competition everywhere. (shrink)

My dissertation combines philosophy of science and political philosophy. Drawing directly on the work of Alasdair MacIntyre and inspired by John Dewey, I develop two rival conceptions of scientific practice. I show that these rivals are closely linked to the two basic sides in the science and values debate -- the debate over the extent to which ethical and political values may legitimately influence scientific inquiry. Finally, I start to develop an account of justice that is sensitive to these legitimate (...) and illegitimate influences. (shrink)

In recent years, corporate social responsibility (CSR) of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) in developing countries has received more attention. However, in this literature, Africa is much less well represented than other regions, and existing studies about Africa have mainly focused on South Africa and Nigeria. This focus has resulted in scant research on other African countries where MNCs are located as well, and where their presence is notable. Settings largely unexplored include conflict-ridden areas in Central Africa where a limited number of (...) usually large MNCs can potentially have a large impact on the local situation and play a role in addressing the huge problems with which these countries are confronted. Moreover, the MNCs themselves face large CSR dilemmas, related to the contribution they can (or cannot) give in the different setting compared to their home countries as well as their attitude vis-a-vis ongoing conflicts. In order to help shed light on these issues, this article explores how MNCs report on CSR and conflict in three Central African countries (Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Republic of the Congo). Our analysis of company information reveals that opportunities are widely seen and that most MNCs report on their economic and social impacts. However, CSR reporting is fairly generic, and the specific context seems to bear little influence on the type of CSR activities. The conflict dimension also receives limited attention, although some companies show awareness and outline the limitations of their power and the dilemmas inherent to their presence in these countries. The potential for MNCs' involvement in (co)creating sustainable economies is recognised, and needs further research attention in the coming years. (shrink)

У статті визначено поняття криптовалюти. Проаналізовано відповідність криптовалюти статусу грошей. Висвітлено основні етапи розвитку криптовалюти. Розглянуто переваги та недоліки використання криптовалюти біткоїн. Досліджено правовий статус криптовалюти в країнах світу. Охарактеризовано стан використання найбільш відомої криптовалюти Bitcoin в Україні.

La experiencia de Jesús resucitado es siempre novedosa y sorprendente, de manera que debe presentarse con aspectos constructivos como el cumplimiento de promesas y regalos tanto personales como comunitarios, que impulsen procesos comunitarios y abran campos de pastoral dinamizados por la fuerza del Resucitado. A partir del comentario bíblico de Jn 20, 19-23 se presenta la posibilidad de crecer en ámbitos pastorales y comunitarios con personas sanadas, en paz, bajo el impulso del Espíritu Santo que conduzca a fortalecer las relaciones (...) con el perdón y la misión. (shrink)

Resulta poco común en los relatos de curación presentados a lo largo de los evangelios canónicos que Jesús realice acciones de carácter ritual para otorgar la salud. Por lo general, basta su palabra y la fe de quienes le suplican. El caso del relato de curación del tartamudo sordo en Mc 7, 31-37 parece ser una excepción, lo que ha llamado la atención de varios exégetas. Para profundizar en tal realidad y en el sentido teológico de la narración, el presente (...) artículo realiza un estudio exegético de dicho relato teniendo en cuenta la versión griega del mismo, su marco narrativo y geográfico y el análisis detallado de cada una de sus escenas. (shrink)

The corporate citizenship (CC) concept introduced by Dirk Matten and Andrew Crane has been well received. To this date, however, empirical studies based on this concept are lacking. In this article, we flesh out and operationalize the CC concept and develop an assessment tool for CC. Our tool focuses on the organizational level and assesses the embeddedness of CC in organizational structures and procedures. To illustrate the applicability of the tool, we assess five Swiss companies (ABB, Credit Suisse, Nestlé, Novartis, (...) and UBS). These five companies are participants of the UN Global Compact (UNGC), currently the largest collaborative strategic policy initiative for business in the world (www.unglobalcompact.org). This study makes four main contributions: (1) it enriches and operationalizes Matten and Crane’s CC definition to build a concept of CC that can be operationalized, (2) it develops an analytical tool to assess the organizational embeddedness of CC, (3) it generates empirical insights into how five multinational corporations have approached CC, and (4) it presents assessment results that provide indications how global governance initiatives like the UNGC can support the implementation of CC. (shrink)

To explain globalization of the Mexicandairy production more precisely, globalization indairy systems worldwide and within Mexico ispresented, using an intensive dairy operation in theregion of La Laguna (North Mexico), and a traditionaldairy operation in Los Altos de Jalisco (West Mexico)as examples. The focus is on the economic aspects ofregionalization, and how it relates to theglobalization process. In this context, the process ofregionalization of the North American dairy systemsand their relationships with the local systems in LaLaguna and Los Altos de Jalisco (...) are presented. Themain thesis in this paper is whether globalization hasacted as a factor to help homogenize the dairy systemsin terms of economic, political, and culturalprocesses affected by world tendencies as well aslocal trends. (shrink)