The present worldwide economic, social and ecological crises have created fertile ground for claiming the need for an internationally recognized text setting out human responsibilities. A
Charter of Human Responsibilities was launched by the international Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation as a pre-text. It is a tool for dialogue and a text in evolution. Now professional networks like Europe SPES are involved in more than 25 countries around the world to produce reflection and action papers. The 100th anniversary of E.F. Schumacher’s birth is an ideal opportunity to launch this particular discussion on responsibility. It invites us to rediscover the author of
Small is Beautiful (1973) and his philosophy of responsibility as elaborated in his
Guide for the perplexed (1977). In his last publication
Good Work (1979) Schumacher integrated as one of the first economists the principles of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability (CSRS).
On
neweconomicsinstitute.org one finds a tribute to E.F. Schumacher.
On
September 22 and 23, 2011 the European SPES Forum held its seventh international Annual Conference on Responsibility in Economics and the Legacy of E.F. Schumacher. The conference was hosted by the Center for Ethics, University of Antwerp in collaboration with the Business Ethics Center, Corvinus University Budapest. The conference was supported by the
Fondation Charles Léopold Mayer and
Batiself.
=> Click here for
Pictures of the conference.
Aims
The aims of the seventh European SPES Conference are:
(1) to celebrate the 100th anniversary of E.F. Schumacher’s birth
(2) to confront what Schumacher calls “Economics as if people mattered” with the need of responsibility in current economics and business
(3) to contribute to a Universal declaration of human responsibilities
Scientific Committee
Luk Bouckaert (K.U.Leuven); Luigino Bruni (University of Milano); Henri-Claude de Bettignies (INSEAD, Fontainebleau); Gerrit De Vylder (Lessius College); Hendrik Opdebeeck (University of Antwerp); Diana Schumacher (co-founder Schumacher Society); Mike Thompson (CEIBS, Shanghai); Luc Van Liedekerke (University of Antwerp); Laszlo Zsolnai (Corvinus University, Budapest)
