Catholic Social Teaching: A communitarian democratic capitalism for the new world order

Catholic Social Teaching has taken a remarkable turn with the May 1991 document on economic ethics,Centesimus Annus. During their one hundred year history, church documents were notable for their courageous championing of the rights of the least advantaged; they were much less distinguished for their understanding of how markets and incentives function in capitalism. Most business leaders admired church teaching for its compassion but had little respect for its competence. With this most recent document, however, there is a growing conviction that the church may have come of age in economic ethics. Even theWall Street Journal has celebratedCentesimus Annus. The article outlines the highlights of the document and its points of continuity with the tradition. Responses from business and the academy are also briefly considered.Oliver F. Williams is a member of the faculty and serves as Associate Provost of the University of Notre Dame. A Catholic priest, Father Williams has a doctorate and other degrees in theology and chemical engineering. He has published and lectured extensively in the field of business ethics.This article includes an updated version of some material previously published. For more elaboration on the history of Catholic social teaching, see articles by Williams, O. F. in Houck, J. W. and Williams, O. F. (eds.): 1984,Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy: Working Papers for a Bishops' Pastoral (University Press of America, Washington, DC) and in Williams, O. F. and Houck, J. (eds.): 1982,The Judeo-Christian Vision and the Modern Corporation (University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, IN).     

Democratic capitalism: Developing a conscience for the corporation

One way of ensuring that individual actions do not violate a group's moral norms is to develop within each individual a conscience. Conscience consists in the internalization or acceptance of a group's moral norms as correct and overriding one's self-interest when they conflict.Corporations as well as individuals need a conscience to monitor and control their behavior. The correlative of a personal conscience in a corporation consists in the representation of group interests in the running and managing of the firm. This means consumer and employee representation on the board of directors and management is the most effective way to promote corporate moral behavior. Joseph M. Grcic is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Loyola University of Chicago. (Formerly at the University of Missouri at Kansas City.) He is a Phi Beta Kappa Member. His most important publications are Kant and Rawls: Contrasting Conceptions of Moral Theory in Journal of Value Inquiry 17, Rawls and Socialism in Philosophy and Social Criticism, Spring 1980, and Revolution and Economic Inequality (forthcoming in Kant-Studien).     

The catharsis of male consumption: Reimagining masculinity in India

Research on alternate masculinity from India that emphasize consumption and consequent subjective well-being (SWB) is primarily about gay men. However, our research points to different marginal masculinity, alternate consumption, and consecutive SWB. The present study uses in-depth interview methods to uncover the “marginal” masculinity of a group of urban, upper-middle-class, heterosexual Indian men. We probe their consumption as a part of their identity project referred to as cathartic. Such consumption leads to a sense of high subjective consumer well-being amidst an otherwise patriarchally defined Indian consumptionscape. This almost fledgling group of men relates itself to the shifting world order of normative masculinity, denounces the patriarchal norms, betrays the cause of male privilege, empathetically responds to the paradigms of femininity, accepts the fall of hegemonic forms of masculinity, and is sensitive toward “others” and ecological/sustainability issues. We further argue that this “cathartic masculinity,” as evident through their consumption, may impact the fledging gender-fluid marketplace of tomorrow.     

State capitalism in international context: Varieties and variations

State interventions in markets assume varieties of forms in different economic systems. To capture this variety, we consider state capitalism as a multidimensional concept, first reviewing its historical evolution from both practical and scholarly vantages. We describe several dimensions of state capitalism and demonstrate how cross-national variations can be captured through positioning countries along these dimensions. We use cross-sectional data for a large sample of countries to derive factors that represent key dimensions of state capitalism. We demonstrate how cross-national and historical variation in state capitalism is captured by this Virtual Special Issue and offer suggestions for future research.     

Moral dividends: Freemasonry and finance capitalism in early-nineteenth-century America

Abstract

Using documents from the Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of the State of Indiana (USA), I show how the material practices and symbolic orientations of finance capitalism became transposed into Freemasonry in the early-nineteenth century. I briefly discuss why this happened and point to how these developments shaped the institutional trajectory of Freemasonry. Next, I observe that the symbolic moral standing of Freemasonry became transposed onto finance capitalism as undertaken by its members and other white men like them. After a brief explanation, I outline how these developments affected the institutionalisation of finance capitalism.     

Value-added annual shareholders meetings: reflections on people''s capitalism at Wal-Mart

Most shareholder annual meetings are relatively dull. This is a case study of how a large successful company, Wal-Mart, uses its annual shareholder meeting to motivate and spread best practices among other stakeholders including vendors and employees. In doing so, it makes it a value-added event and also livens up what may be a relatively dull annual shareholder meeting.     

Trade under temporary equilibrium: Evolution in a loglinear world

The paper develops a model of a competitive world in which several countries are engaged in the production, consumption, and exchange of many commodities over time. Each agent produces a single good, and trades it for the required inputs and consumption goods. The plans of the agents are based on an optimization exercise involving a constrained maximization of a discounted sum of one period utilities. All the relevant functional relationships are assumed to be loglinear. The principal results deal with the existence and characterization of the sequence of temporary equilibria.     

EMS: a model for a world monetary order?

In the debate about the world monetary order there is agreement that greater stability in international currency relationships would be desirable. Could a system of fixed exchange rates between the currencies of the major industrial countries put an end to the present instability? What would be the advantages and weaknesses of such a system modelled on the EMS?     

Industry-specific strategies in a protectionist world

The period from 1950 to 1974 was one of exceptional economic progress, particularly in manufacturing. This article examines how some of these developments have altered the objectives and methods of formulating industrial policy in western countries. Following a brief discussion of sector-wide policies and strategies, evidence from two industries—steel and advanced electronics—is used to illustrate the growing range of strategic choices and the interaction between public policy-makers and private industry. Finally, some generalizations with regard to industry-specific strategies are presented.     

Being green in a materialistic world: Consequences for subjective well-being

This paper explores the potential negative side-effects of the sustainability movement in societies with large segments of materialistic consumers. Across three studies, there is evidence that a conflict between materialistic and green value profiles can arise in consumers. When it arises, it seems to be related to diminished well-being. Study 1 shows that consumers with a higher value conflict (VC) experienced higher levels of stress. Consumers with higher degrees of stress then reported lower satisfaction with life. Study 2 reveals the underlying process by which this value conflict affects well-being. The results suggest that the value conflict is related to a reduced clarity of consumers’ self-concept (SCC), which in turn is related to increased levels of stress and a lower satisfaction with life. Results of Study 3 show that preference for consistency (PfC) serves as a boundary condition to this effect. The negative effect of VC on SCC is most pronounced among consumers high in PfC, while low PfC consumers seem to suffer less from the negative consequences of a conflict between green and materialistic values. Conceptual and public-policy implications of these results are discussed.     

周威方：以建立一个更安全的世界为己任

“正是由于我对她们（妻子和孩子）的爱让我觉得我在UL的事业十分有价值,因为这项事业能让千千万万像我们一样的家庭更有安全感,这也让我深感责任重大。     

What a difference a word makes: Understanding threats to performance in a VUCA world

VUCA is an acronym that has recently found its way into the business lexicon. The components it refers to—volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity—are words that have been variously used to describe an environment which defies confident diagnosis and befuddles executives. In a ‘VUCA world,’ both pundits and executives have said, core activities essential to driving organizational performance—like strategic planning—are viewed as mere exercises in futility. VUCA conditions render useless any efforts to understand the future and to plan responses. When leaders are left with little to do other than wring their hands, organizational performance quickly falls at risk. In this installment of Organizational Performance, we demonstrate that by overlooking important differences in the conditions that volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity describe, we have disempowered leaders. We show how leaders can appreciate the differences among each of these challenging situations in order to properly allocate scarce resources to preserve and enhance organizational performance.