In social enterprise we talk a lot about persuading companies to participate in socially responsible activities. Doesn't that up the ante for businesses whose very existence may be said to have a negative impact on society?
Using the tobacco industry as poster child, editors Nikos Passas, professor of criminal justice at Northeastern University, and Neva R. Goodwin, codirector of the Global Development and Environmental Institute at Tufts University, have compiled essays on less scrutinized but still ethically questionable industries, such as offshore financial institutions, the pesticide industry, and legal gambling operations. Eye-opening essays written by academics and activists outline the ethical challenges that exist in these and other markets.
Pesticides, for example, have long been found to be harmful to many non-target species—plants and animals, including humans—yet they are used worldwide despite the existence of viable (non-chemical) alternatives. Pesticides that are banned in industrial countries, the essay asserts, are often aggressively marketed to farmers in less-developed regions. Accountability in this industry remains a problem, even as damaging data continues to be released and experts admit that many risks are incompletely described or recognized.
A chapter on the licit and illicit trade in antiquities reveals lapses such as inconsistent export controls between countries, which allow the laundering of art work and antiquities through Europe and the U.S. Another concern is the looting of cultural artifacts such as ancient wall mosaics, burial relics, and sculptures from archaeological sites. The biggest problem, according to this essay, is actually defining the illicit market and determining exactly what is illegal. Once these points are established, there is a further challenge: agreeing on enforcement from country to country.
Though legislative solutions are part of the equation, the editors argue that in many cases working toward regulation has resulted in misdirected energies that don't solve problems but work to legitimize the businesses themselves. Often a better approach is to change public opinion, or work with businesses to establish universal codes of conduct and ethics standards. This book gives context to the issues—a how-we-got-here perspective—and reveals opportunities to change the way these legal, but morally questionable, industries operate.—Manda Salls