The Ethics of Global Business

Chapter TwoGlobal Justice and International Business

My aim in this chapter is to address the question of what theoretical framework is best suited for determining the obligations transnational corporations and other business organizations have to those individuals with whom they interact in their global operations. My argument is developed in four parts. First, the claim that corporations are properly understood as agents of justice is explained and defended. Second, two domains of normative legitimacy regarding international business are distinguished. It is argued that the moral legitimacy of organizations is not persuasively accounted for by the Habermasian deliberative democracy perspective that has been defended by management scholars (Scherer and Palazzo 2007). Third, it is argued that proponents of a Rawlsian political perspective on corporate obligations regarding global justice are mistaken. The upshot of these two sections is that the political account of corporate social responsibility (CSR) that has proven influential among some scholars in recent years cannot provide an adequate theoretical account of the obligations of corporations in the international arena. In the fourth part of the article, an alternative ethical perspective on CSR that utilizes a cosmopolitan human rights perspective is introduced. This cosmopolitan perspective will be elaborated and defended in subsequent chapters.

Agents of Global Justice

Global justice is a topic of broad concern and ...