Text 1:
Another striking aspect of the Economy of Communion project is the way in which everyone involved is given equal consideration. Those who receive help are not considered “assisted” or “beneficiaries.” Rather they are regarded as active participants in the project, all part of
the same community, who also live the culture of giving. The emphasis is not on philanthropy, but on sharing, in that each person gives and receives with equal dignity.
Response 1:
I don’t have much to say to this other than about how striking this was to me. It is stated so simply that it makes me think about how non-prejudice it is. To turn giving and taking into simply participating is a totally new way to look at the process, and I believe it’s a much healthier and productive thing. I also found the statement “that each person gives and receives with equal dignity” to be extremely powerful. There is so much baggage that typically comes with this process: guilt in receiving, feeling as though you “owe” or “are owed” something depending on your position, feeling like you are “better” because you give, rather than giving because you should. I love that they position this as sharing, because to me, sharing is something that we are all expected to do, starting in pre-school. Why can’t we continue to do so forever?
Text 2:
Businesses are beginning to take care of aspects of social life, which up until a few years ago, were considered within the ambit of the state, religious institutions, or civil society.
Response 2:
This transformation is huge, and certainly shows a trend that we as people who are passionate about fair trade hope to continue. If businesses are holding themselves accountable for social responsibility, rather than it being the norm that government, etc. take care of it, then the movement towards fair trade is getting closer and closer. It seems as though this shift has occurred as technology has progressed, partially due to the ability of passionate groups of people exposing injustices publicly to a much wider audience. As technology progresses, especially in the third world countries where much of the injustice is occurring, I predict that businesses will have to take increasing care of social issues.
« Bruni and Uelman ResponseBruni and Uelman »
More blog posts in this category Common
Subscribe to RSS-Feed
Visitors
Board Statistics
