Preface: Multiple Perspectives on the Ethical Issues of Globalization

This introduction to the book will provide an integrative and structured overview of emerging ethical issues of life in virtual worlds with a focus on the content of the volume. First, it will present a short discussion of effect globalization has had on developments in applied ethics. Then it will summarize, contrast, emphasize, and seek to integrate the various contributions made by the by the various authors. The emphasis in this chapter, as for all chapters in the book, will be on bringing the effects of the globalized economy on standards of ethics in business into focus. In the 21st century human society has become a global community in which technology, commerce, and industry has forged new links across national and cultural borders. While globalization offers large scale changes to national governments, education, and international business, it also promises change at the level of the individual human being. The effect of globalization on the individual raises ethical questions that demand answers. Does globalization harm human beings? What is fair treatment and how should this affect how globalization is regulated? Does globalization produce instances of the exploitation of certain groups such as populations in the developing world, children, women, and those living in poverty? How can ethically informed policy decisions be made in a world of heterogeneous values, cultural practices, and moral norms? As the global market grows by leaps and bounds, research is needed that proposes norms and practices that ensure the appropriate level of ethical concern for those who both contribute to the process of globalization and are being affected by globalization. This volume presents a comprehensive selection of research aimed at both offering solutions to these questions and further delineating the scope and nature of the ethical issues of globalization in the hope of guiding the further research needed to offer solutions to the ethical dilemmas of globalization. A wide swath of recent work on the topic of ethics in relation to globalization has produced both norma-Research has also considered cultural factors and sought to develop approaches to ethics that are sensitive to all members of the global community The chapters of this volume broadly fall into two topical categories: chapters that model new approaches to ethical decision making that are sensitive to the global context, and chapters that analyze particular ethical issues for which a global context prompts us to reconsider based on the realities of who …