Globalization and Political Ethics (International Studies in Sociology and Social Anthropology, 103)

Rational exercise of our responsibility requires us to relate the globalization process to the ends and purposes that properly befit human life and human community. Economic 'ends' are merely the 'means' to ends of a higher order, which can only be specified in terms of moral duty and ethical purpose. The contributors to this book explore political-ethical issues of globalization, including terrorism, institutional change and distribution in the world economy, the role of the United Nations and international financial institutions, the regimes of international trade and technology transfer, the effects of regionalism in the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the failure of Russia, human rights enforcement in Africa, and the prospects for global governance. This book was originally published as Volume 4 no. 3-4 (2005) of Brill's journal Perspectives on Global Development and Technology . This book measures the current institutional and political realities surrounding globalization against philosophical ideals. Though the contributors share no particular orthodoxy, they do share the conviction that human responsibility is possible in circumstances that often appear to deny human agency.