Call for Papers: 2009 Conference on Ethical Economy
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Brian Ward
CALL FOR PAPERS : Conference on Ethical Economy
Sub-theme for the sixth Critical Management Studies conference, 13-15 July 2009, Warwick Business School , University of Warwick , UK .
Is there a company today that is not interested in ethics? Today it seems that ethical auditing, environmentally friendly technologies and a healthy and balanced working environment for employees are ‘must haves’ for any company wanting to stay in business. There are apparently ethical market niches for everything from caring cars to carbon-reduced cremation. And no more ‘organization man’, as employees take it upon themselves to make their lives more ethical in various ways. Today, the story goes, ethics is big business.
At the same time as the economy has been dusted by ethics, ethical theory is becoming increasingly aware of economics. At the most obvious level this involves the extension of ethical inquiry into the ‘hidden abode of production’, the cruelties of supply chains and the tricks of the advertising industry. Beyond this, one might also witness an increasing recognition that ethics might be thought of as part of a general economy, one that includes but also exceeds ‘economy’ in the narrow sense. The experience of ethics involves a pattern of exchanges between oneself and others, and it is clear that these experiences and exchanges take place in decidedly economic contexts.
In this stream we propose to explore this thing that has been called ethical economy. We invite contributions that explore any aspect of the intersection between the ethical and the economic. This might involve asking questions such as the following:
What does an ethical economy look like?
Which practices does an ethical economy include and which does it exclude?
What is the nature of good management, good work, good consumption, good distribution and good disposal?
Does critical management studies have anything to contribute to understanding ethical economy?
How can we conceptualise the economy of ethics? Does ethics involve an exchange of kinds?
How are particular sectors of the economy constructed as being ethical?
How is ethics valued, and how is it devalued?
Are there imbalances in the valorisation of the ethics of the powerful and the denigration of everyday ethics?
What is the relation between ethical economy and the libidinal economy and the economy of giving?
What of the financialization of ethics and the ethics of financialization?
The bio-morality industry: What is the relation between feeling good and being good?
We propose, therefore, to take up ethical economy in order to pose fundamental questions about the ethical and the economic. At the same time, we propose to engage the central debates have functioned in domains such as critical management studies and business ethics. We encourage diverse perspectives, and in particular seek contributions that speak across boundaries. This might involve testing boundaries between critical management studies, business ethics and corporate social responsibility. Other contributions might consider the way that critical management studies has become excessively ‘scholastic’ and has insulated itself from more practical platforms of social commentary and criticism. Some might show the potential that expanded or more wholesome versions of business ethics and corporate social responsibility can offer for enlivening critical management studies. We are not interested in contributions that are focused on debates of purely internal interest to any particular discipline, but in illuminating a wider terrain.
SUBMISSIONS
Abstract of no more than 1,000 words should be submitted to Campbell Jones (c.jones[@]le.ac.uk) no later than 1 November 2008. Full papers will be due 1 May 2009.
CONVENORS
Campbell Jones, Copenhagen Business School and University of Leicester
André Spicer, Warwick Business School , UK
For further information visit the conference website at http://group.wbs.ac.uk/cms2009