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Book part
Publication date: 2 September 2019

Philip Balsiger and Simone Schiller-Merkens

Moral struggles in and around markets abound in contemporary societies where markets have become the dominant form of economic coordination. Reviewing research on morality and…

Abstract

Moral struggles in and around markets abound in contemporary societies where markets have become the dominant form of economic coordination. Reviewing research on morality and markets across disciplinary boundaries, this introductory essay suggests that a moral turn can currently be observed in scholarship, and draws a direct connection to recent developments in the sociology of morality. The authors introduce the chapters in the present volume “The Contested Moralities of Markets.” In doing so, the authors distinguish three types of moral struggles in and around markets: struggles around morally contested markets where the exchange of certain goods on markets is contested; struggles within organizations that are related to an organization’s embeddedness in complex institutional environments with competing logics and orders of worth; and moral struggles in markets where moral justifications are mobilized by a variety of field members who act as moral entrepreneurs in their striving for moralizing the economy. Finally, the authors highlight three properties of moral struggles in contemporary markets: They (1) arise over different objects, (2) constitute political struggles, and (3) are related to two broader social processes: market moralization and market expansion. The introduction concludes by discussing some of the theoretical approaches that allow particular insights into struggles over morality in markets. Collectively, the contributions in this volume advance our current understanding of the contested moralities of markets by highlighting the sources, processes, and outcomes of moral struggles in and around markets, both through tracing the creation, reproduction, and change of underlying moral orders and through reflecting the status and power differentials, alliances, and political strategies as well as the general cultural, social, and political contexts in which the struggles unfold.

Details

The Contested Moralities of Markets
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-120-9

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Article
Publication date: 1 December 1994

Tomas J.F. Riha

Claims that the process of transition of former socialist countries hasbeen misguided. The reform of the economic system is but part of theoverall process of social…

693

Abstract

Claims that the process of transition of former socialist countries has been misguided. The reform of the economic system is but part of the overall process of social transformation, and it is argued that at the root of the disappointing results has been the fact that instead of focusing on moral redemption, the moral decay of these societies has even been enhanced by the infusion of economic egoism. The present transition can be seen as a process of transformation from primitive socialism to primitive capitalism. Without the sanctity of law and order rooted in the value system of the cultural heritage of Judeo‐Christian ethics, the privatization of state industries and public utilities including the commercialization of education, health, the arts and sciences has been creating conditions for a place far removed from an environment conducive to social peace, political stability and economic growth.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 21 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 16 September 2014

Sarah A. Tobin

This paper uses the case of Islamic banking in Amman, Jordan, to assess the wide moral range of expectations, levels of satisfaction, and means of evaluating banks’ “Islamicness.”

Abstract

Purpose

This paper uses the case of Islamic banking in Amman, Jordan, to assess the wide moral range of expectations, levels of satisfaction, and means of evaluating banks’ “Islamicness.”

Design/methodology/approach

The information is gathered from interviews conducted during over 21 months of ethnographic research and one month in participant observation and research access as an intern at the Middle East Islamic Bank (MEIB) in Amman, Jordan.

Findings

I found three modes for evaluating “Islamicness” when actors decide whether or not to become customers of Islamic banks.

Research implications

These modes demonstrate that Islamic banking is no longer the cultural protectionism of a relatively homogeneous community of Muslims. Rather it is a fraught and tense field for actors’ debates about types of moralities in the markets and modes of moral assessments of “Islamicness.”

Originality/value

The amplification of the individual and individual choice and authority in the moral assessments of Islamic banking may ultimately serve to unseat prior dichotomous theoretical framings of morality’s presence or absence as “Islamic” or “not Islamic” and “good” and “bad.” By unleashing to individuals the construction of morality in the markets, moral rights and wrongs, and moral evaluations, fragmentation of moral consensus in market practices will occur.

Details

Production, Consumption, Business and the Economy: Structural Ideals and Moral Realities
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-055-1

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Article
Publication date: 1 November 1998

Tomas J. F. Riha

Attempts to trace the evolution of the major ideas of the natural law and in this way shed some light on the ethical contents of economics. Asks the reader to ponder some of the…

4069

Abstract

Attempts to trace the evolution of the major ideas of the natural law and in this way shed some light on the ethical contents of economics. Asks the reader to ponder some of the perennial questions such as: What is primary, ego or social association? Is man a social animal by nature? Is man a political animal? Is the justification for human existence to be found in the individual alone or in the social whole? Is society a synthesis of individuals, or does it contain something more than the simple totality of individuals?

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 25 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 1998

Arnold McKee

This essay develops four points. First, two basic reasons led to John Paul II’s advocacy of the market economy in Centesimus Annus ‐ the creativity of labour, and the failures of…

1358

Abstract

This essay develops four points. First, two basic reasons led to John Paul II’s advocacy of the market economy in Centesimus Annus ‐ the creativity of labour, and the failures of socialism and excessive state intervention to ensure basic welfare, especially in underdeveloped countries. Second, the implications of this new‐found support for the market system, its institutions and their working require some clarification. Third, essential qualifications remain: private and social morality must guide economic freedom, just legal framework is required, and government surveillance must remain especially of distribution. Fourth, today’s market system, now operating globally, has given rise to new needs for ensuring adequate employment with security of tenure. Firms and public agencies should see themselves as “communities of persons” concerned with the welfare of their employees. Finally, this discussion of the market economy takes issue with those who confuse a morally directed version with one reflecting automatic forces, and with others who think a desirable economic system and policy and the premises of economic science cannot be influenced by Christian thought.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 25 no. 11/12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

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Article
Publication date: 1 November 2007

Thomas A. Lucey

To achieve a fully participatory society, all participants should receive equal opportunities for understanding the processes of acquiring, managing, and developing financial…

Abstract

To achieve a fully participatory society, all participants should receive equal opportunities for understanding the processes of acquiring, managing, and developing financial resources. The author argues that financial education processes do not meet the needs of all children, because they do not account for differences in child development prompted by various economic contexts. He contends that these contexts prompt judgment patterns among individuals having economic differences and that efforts toward social equity necessitate the exploration of moral issues related to personal finance. He recommends use of the arts to enable student discovery and reconciliation of financial judgments so that students may construct understandings of the social issues that prompt financial inequities and may explore ideas to challenge them.

Details

Social Studies Research and Practice, vol. 2 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1933-5415

Content available
Article
Publication date: 1 August 2004

Laszlo Zsolnai

507

Abstract

Details

European Business Review, vol. 16 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-534X

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Book part
Publication date: 2 September 2019

Sarah Lenz and Sighard Neckel

German ethical banks have experienced a significant increase in customers, deposits, and lending. They aim to establish a fairer banking system. But the simultaneous pursuit of…

Abstract

German ethical banks have experienced a significant increase in customers, deposits, and lending. They aim to establish a fairer banking system. But the simultaneous pursuit of social, ecological, and economic goals leaves them vulnerable to conflicting orders of worth. The authors examine the normative foundations that ethical bank employees refer to when they describe their everyday practices and identify the specific problems that arise from negotiating between moral principles and economic demands to provide insights into the impacts, constraints, and paradoxes of normatively oriented business practices. Drawing on the theoretical framework of the sociology of critique, the authors assume that moral categories, social processes of interpretation, and justification are an essential part of markets. Ethical banking is characterized by the need to meet both market-limiting and market-expanding requirements, and this particularly becomes contentious when dealing with economic growth. By analyzing ethical banks’ freely accessible documents, the authors first outline the institutional guidelines. In a second step, the authors analyze 27 qualitative interviews with employees of ethical banks to gain insights into everyday lending practices and action-guiding normative orientations. The goal of this chapter is to examine the tensions that may arise from applying normative guidelines under the condition of increasing economic requirements and to disclose the way that ethical banks negotiate between mechanisms of expansion and limitation. The analysis of this chapter points out a paradox of ethical banking: due to the banks’ economic expansion, investments corresponding to their ethical commitments tend to become a luxury they cannot afford.

Article
Publication date: 21 August 2009

Thomas A. Lucey and Michael M. Grant

The purpose of this paper is to explore a framework for considering moral K‐12 instructional technology. It seeks to examine the extent that development of technology policies…

1416

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore a framework for considering moral K‐12 instructional technology. It seeks to examine the extent that development of technology policies consider and respect affected parties' interests.

Design/methodology/approach

Interpreting morality as an economic concept that involves a reconciliation of societal members' diverse needs and wants, the authors describe moral instruction technology use as a negotiation of administrative, teaching and learning needs along five continua defined by Mason, in 1986 and Peace and Hartzel in 2002: property, freedom of speech, privacy, accessibility, and accountability. The paper commences with observations concerning research into technology‐based empowerment and associated ethical issues. It then describes the five continua of ethical instructional technology challenges within the contexts of K‐12 settings.

Findings

The authors encourage research through observational and survey studies to clarify understandings of these continua. Although presented separately, they acknowledge that these dimensions overlap and interact to comprise a mesh of moral dilemmas. If morality represents a concept designed to balance societal powers, then implementation of moral instructional technology processes respects the views of all educators. The authors argue that how educators interpret technology's placements along these moral continua have important consequences for practice. They encourage research that interprets these relationships and how they may best support classroom processes.

Originality/value

The paper presents an exploratory framework, offering insights into ethical issues in instructional technology.

Details

Multicultural Education & Technology Journal, vol. 3 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-497X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 2 May 2023

Muhammad Sholihin, Catur Sugiyanto and Akhmad Akbar Susamto

This paper aims to systematically review the concept of homo Islamicus discussed in the existing literature. The second objective is to offer a set of criticisms of the…

1226

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to systematically review the concept of homo Islamicus discussed in the existing literature. The second objective is to offer a set of criticisms of the descriptions of homo Islamicus.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper prespecified eligibility criteria are applied to select articles that are indexed in Scopus and ProQuest, or published by two major publishers, ScienceDirect and Emerald, or appear on ResearchGate. A set of books related to homo Islamicus was also used as secondary sources to support the selected articles. As a result, this paper systematically reviews 53 articles and four books to synthesize the homo Islamicus.

Findings

There are four notions of homo Islamicus: Firstly, homo Islamicus as the kind of economic agent that is required to achieve Islamic economic objectives. Secondly, homo Islamicus as a defining factor that makes the difference between Islamic and conventional economics. Thirdly, homo Islamicus as an economic agent whose characteristics are something Islamic economics aims to realize. Lastly, homo Islamicus as an economic agent representing the fundamental assumption in Islamic economics.

Practical implications

Mapping homo Islamicus can be helpful for future researchers to conduct analyses related to homo Islamicus, especially in the context of empirical studies of the existence of homo Islamicus in economic reality. This literature review can help other researchers to understand the development of literature related to homo Islamicus.

Originality/value

This paper seems to be the first to systematically identify, select and synthesize the description of homo Islamicus in the literature.

Details

Islamic Economic Studies, vol. 30 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1319-1616

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