Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T15:18:02.113Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Catholic Social Teaching in an ERA of Economic Globalization: A Resource for Business Ethics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Dennis P. McCann
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

The paper attempts to provide a basis for exploring the continued relevance of Catholic social teaching to business ethics, by interpreting the historic development of a Catholic work ethic and the traditions of Catholic social teaching in light of contemporary discussions of economic globalization, notably those of Robert Reich and Peter Drucker. The paper argues that the Catholic work ethic and the Church’s tradition of social teaching has evolved dynamically in response to the structural changes involved in the history of modern economic development, and thus is well poised to speak to the ethical challenges implicit in the advent of a knowledge-based society. In order to test this thesis, the author sketches an approach to the ethical challenge of corporate downsizing that he believes illustrates the continued relevance of Catholic social teaching to business ethics.

Type
Perspectives from Roman Catholicism:
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , March 1997 , pp. 57 - 70
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Camenisch, Paul and McCann, Dennis P., “Christian Religious Traditions,” in Walton, Clarence C., ed., Enriching Business Ethics. New York: Plenum Press, 1990. Pp. 63–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dolan, Jay P., The American Catholic Experience: A History from Colonial Times to the Present. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1985.Google Scholar
Dolan, Jay P., Catholic Revivalism: The American Experience: 1830–1900. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1978Google Scholar
Drucker, Peter F., “The Age of Social Transformation,” in The Atlantic Monthly (September 1994). Pp. 53–80.Google Scholar
Drucker, Peter F., Post-Capitalist Society. New York: Harper Collins, 1993.Google Scholar
Gallup, George Jr., and Castelli, Jim, The American Catholic People: Their Beliefs, Practices and Values. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1987.Google Scholar
Greeley, Andrew, American Catholics: A Social Portrait (New York: Basic Books, 1977)Google Scholar
Jackall, Robert, Moral Mazes: The World of the Corporate Managers. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.Google Scholar
McCann, Dennis P., New Experiment in Democracy: The Challenge for American Catholicism. Kansas City: Sheed and Ward, 1987.Google Scholar
McCann, Dennis P., and Brownsberger, M. L., “Management as a Social Practice: Rethinking Business Ethics after MacIntyre,” in Stackhouse, Max L., McCann, Dennis P., and Roels, Shirley J. with Williams, Preston, eds., On Moral Business: Classical and Contemporary Resources for Ethics in Economic Life. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995. Pp. 510–515.Google Scholar
Stuart Mill, John, “Private Property and its Critics: Excerpts from Political Economy (1848),” in Stackhouse, Max L., McCann, Dennis P., and Roels, Shirley J. with Williams, Preston, eds., On Moral Business: Classical and Contemporary Resources for Ethics in Economic Life. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995. Pp. 217–225.Google Scholar
Novak, Michael, The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982.Google Scholar
John Paul II, Pope, “Laborem exercens” (“On Human Work,” 1981), in O’Brien, David J. and Shannon, Thomas A., eds., Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary Heritage. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1992. Pp. 350–392.Google Scholar
John Paul II, Pope, “Centesimus annus” (“On the Hundredth Anniversary of Rerum Novarum,” 1991), in O’Brien, David J. and Shannon, Thomas A., eds., Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary Heritage. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1992. Pp. 437–488.Google Scholar
Leo XIII, Pope, “Rerum novarum” (“The Condition of Labor,” 1891), in O’Brien, David J. and Shannon, Thomas A., eds., Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary Heritage. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1992. Pp. 12–39.Google Scholar
Pius XI, Pope, “Quadragesimo anno” (“After For Forty Years,” 1931), in O’Brien, David J. and Shannon, Thomas A., eds., Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary Heritage. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1992. Pp. 40–79.Google Scholar
Reich, Robert B., The Work of Nations: Preparing Ourselves for 21st Century Capitalism. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991.Google Scholar
Rodriguez, Richard, Days of Obligation: An Argument with My Mexican Father. New York: Penguin Books, 1992.Google Scholar
Stackhouse, Max L., McCann, Dennis P., and Roels, Shirley J. with Williams, Preston, eds., On Moral Business: Classical and Contemporary Resources for Ethics in Economic Life. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995.Google Scholar
Tropman, John E., The Catholic Ethic in American Society: An Exploration of Values. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995.Google Scholar
U.S. Catholic Bishops, “Economic Justice for All” (1986), in O’Brien, David J. and Shannon, Thomas A., eds., Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary Heritage. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1992. Pp. 572–680.Google Scholar
Wilber, Charles K. and Jameson, Kenneth P., An Inquiry into the Poverty of Economics (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1983)Google Scholar
Wilber, Charles K. and Jameson, Kenneth P., Beyond Reaganomics: A Further Inquiry into the Poverty of Economics (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1990)Google Scholar