S0510 Ethical issues in Global Production and Trade

As evident in sharp protests at recent World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle and Cancun, there has been a sharp escalation in the demand for a wide array of ethical issues, such as corporate social responsibility, Fair Trade initiatives, and living wages, in the global economy. One reason is that individual companies have made themselves, and in some cases entire industries, targets by engaging in abusive or exploitation behavior. Transnational activism by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), like Greenpeace, Oxfam, and the Clean Clothes Campaign, has flourished, especially in the advanced industrial economies of Europe and North America. In addition, there is a growing imbalance in global rule-making: the rules favoring global market expansion and intellectual property rights have become stronger and more enforceable, while rules that favor other valid social objectives, such as human rights, labor standards, environmental sustainability, or global poverty reduction, are lagging behind. These perceived problems, and others, have provided the fuel for anti-corporate and anti-globalization campaigns in various regions of the world.\r\n

This course will explore the issues and actors behind a variety of these ethical campaigns. Are they sustainable over time? Are they too reliant on leadership and goals from developed countries? Is there a new development agenda that is emerging in the global South? If so, how could it be institutionalized?

\r\nRequirements
There is a great deal of material relevant to the subject matter of this course. A number of potential readings are listed at the end of this syllabus, and I will designate the required readings on a weekly basis according to the themes listed in the course outline. I will also encourage students to find additional materials for their papers through searching the Internet and accessing several of the many websites listed in the syllabus. If possible, I will try to arrange a field trip for members of the class to visit one or more of the companies in the region surrounding Venice in order to learn how they are addressing ethical concerns related to corporate accountability.