"Your well-paying computer job has been outsourced to India; you are unable to pay your health insurance premiums; you discover that 80 percent of the food you eat is genetically modified, that all of your elected politicians are millionaires, and that corporate advertising is inundating your kids’ schools. As an American you might have experienced one or all of these negative effects of economic globalization. The situation is considerably worse for two-thirds of the people in the world. . . . [They] lack basic necessities such as suitable housing, clean water, food, health care, and education. Although poverty is an age-old problem, in many places economic globalization has exacerbated, not alleviated, it."
—from the introduction Today’s complex social and economic problems leave many people in the affluent world feeling either overwhelmed or ambivalent. Even the small percentage of us who have examined the ethics behind our financial decisions and overcome the often-deterring factors of self-interest rarely know what to do to make any difference. By providing tools for examination and concrete actions for individuals, communities, and society at large, Justice in a Global Economy guides its readers through many of today’s complex societal issues, including land use, immigration, corporate accountability, and environmental and economic justice. Beginning with a basic introduction to the impact of economic globalization, these ethicists and theologians provide both critical assessments of the current political-economic structures and examples of people and communities who are actively working to transform society. Each chapter concludes with questions for discussion and reflection.
