Ethics Theory and

Business Practice

9.3 Environmental Ethics – Part ThreeSome Comprehensive Approaches to

Environmental Sustainability

aim

• to introduce the notion that developing a more sustainable relationship with the environment may demand a rethink of prevailing social and economic structures

is sustainability achievable within existing economic structures?

contrasting shallow ecology

to deep ecology

(Nӕss, 1973, 2010/2008)

shallow ecology

• primarily concerned with the health and affluence of people in developed countries

• sees pollution and resource depletion as barriers to achieving this objective

• environmental policies therefore focus on issues such as recycling and developing alternative energy sources

• so as to maintain the lifestyles to which those in the developed world have become accustomed, whilst minimizing environmental harm

deep ecology

• like shallow ecology, concerned about pollution and resource depletion

• but proposes that these issues cannot be addressed without altering the lifestyles that shallow ecology seeks to preserve

• sees attitudes that pervade contemporary society as inherently unsupportive of sustainability

• particularly those attitudes manifested in prevailing economic structures

three particular features that hinder sustainability

1. consumer culture2. logic of domination3. denial of proximity

1. consumer culture

production and consumption of goods:• ensures that human needs are met• also a key source of personal identity and social

status• and a key indicator of national well-being

but • the more we consume, the more resources we use

up, and the more waste we produce in making stuff and disposing of the stuff that we no longer want

shallow ecology encourages us to enhance the efficiency of production and to dispose of the associated waste in less-polluting waysdeep ecology encourages us to explore alternative lifestyles and alternative value systems that do not place so much emphasis on the production and consumption of goods

business and consumer culture

• contemporary business is heavily implicated in encouraging the consumption of products

• is this the way it has to be?• or are there other ways of arranging economic

activity?www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrTElMJGXTE

2. logic of domination

• to develop a more sustainable relationship with nature, we should stop trying to dominate it

• instead, we should acknowledge our interdependency with the natural environment and establish respectful coexistence with it

• however, establishing a mutually respectful, harmonious relationship with nature is hard when we do not even live in mutually respectful harmony with other humans

the logic of domination and human relationships

• a hierarchical response to difference • things cannot just be different; they have to be better or worse• which justifies the better dominating the worse• for example:– differences between men and women justifying gender-based

domination– differences between personal characteristics justifying socio-

economic domination– differences between cultures justifying domination in

international relations• and the difference between humans and nature justifying

human domination of nature

unravelling the logic of domination in human relations

unravelling the logic of domination in environmental relations

the logic of domination in business

• macho myths and metaphors• metaphors that portray organizations in

political terms and which encourage businesspeople and their stakeholders to jostle for supremacy in hierarchical systems of control

(Solomon, 1992; Morgan, 1998)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=e52dOCxWXiw

unravelling the logic of domination in business relations

unravelling the domination of the environment by business

3. denial of proximity

• the importance of proximity, or closeness, to ethical sensitivity

• in human relations• and in environmental relations• the increasing geographic dispersal of businesses• thus, corporate decision makers are denied

proximity to the environmental implications of their decisions

www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/forests/ancient-forest-destruction-video

some implications for businessbusinesses seem deeply implicated in the reproduction of consumer culture

the desirability of exploring different ways of arranging the provision of goods and services

hierarchical structures and the logic of domination seem firmly entrenched in contemporary business

the merits of business structures and business cultures that are not based around hierarchy and domination, in which business stakeholders can interact in a spirit of mutual cooperation

the business environment is increasingly dominated by vast, global corporations, with whom local businesses compete at a significant disadvantage

the advantages of political and economic measures which might help local businesses to resist the predatory avarice of global corporations

theory in practice

the hamburger connection

key points

• a sustainable relationship with the environment seems to demand a radical rethink of some of the priorities and practices of contemporary society

• this has particular resonance for business, which is deeply implicated in the consumer culture, the logic of domination, and the denial of proximity that hold us back from developing a more harmonious relationship with the natural world

• an environmentally responsive approach to business therefore demands exploration of ways of doing business in which these themes are not so pervasive

references

Morgan, G. (1998) Images of Organization (The Executive Edition). Thousand Oaks: Sage.Nӕss, A. (2010/2008) ‘The Shallow and the Deep Ecology Movement’, in D.R. Keller (ed.), Environmental Ethics: The Big Questions. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell. pp. 230–35.Nӕss, A. (1973) ‘The shallow and the deep, long-range ecology movement. A summary’, Inquiry, 16/1: 95–100.Solomon, R.C. (1992) Ethics and Excellence: Cooperation and Integrity in Business. Oxford: Oxford University Press.