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Ethics, morality and the subject: the contribution of Zygmunt Bauman and Michel Foucault to 'postmodern' business ethics

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  • Kelemen, Mihaela
  • Peltonen, Tuomo

Abstract

This paper discusses a 'postmodern' alternative to business ethics in the light of two authors: Zygmunt Bauman and Michel Foucault. Despite their different usage of the concepts 'ethics' and 'morality', both offer an approach to ethics that avoids the problems of a self-enclosed subject inherent in liberal as well as in communal theories. Bauman and Foucault demonstrate how the continuation of social dialogue suffers from the postulation of fixed individual and organizational identities. Managers and other participants cannot formulate ethical rules on their own, but neither can they come together as a community without tensions and difference. Instead, embodied engagement in the reciprocal play of interpretations and influences keeps us ethically attuned to the limits of reason.

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  • Kelemen, Mihaela & Peltonen, Tuomo, 2001. "Ethics, morality and the subject: the contribution of Zygmunt Bauman and Michel Foucault to 'postmodern' business ethics," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 151-166, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:scaman:v:17:y:2001:i:2:p:151-166
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    Cited by:

    1. Lindfelt, Lise-Lotte, 2002. "Corporate social responsibility in the new global economy," Occasional Papers 2002/1, Uppsala University, Department of Business Studies.
    2. Kristina Auxtova & Mary Brennan & Stephen Dunne, 2021. "To Be or Not to Be Governed Like That? Harmful and/or Offensive Advertising Complaints in the United Kingdom’s (Self-) Regulatory Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(3), pages 425-446, September.
    3. Mark Edwards & Nin Kirkham, 2014. "Situating ‘Giving Voice to Values’: A Metatheoretical Evaluation of a New Approach to Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 121(3), pages 477-495, May.
    4. Ozan Nadir Alakavuklar & Fahreen Alamgir, 2018. "Ethics of Resistance in Organisations: A Conceptual Proposal," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 31-43, April.
    5. Clément Longondjo Etambakonga & Julia Roloff, 2020. "Protecting Environment or People? Pitfalls and Merits of Informal Labour in the Congolese Recycling Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(4), pages 815-834, February.
    6. Shathees Baskaran & Nomahaza Mahadi & Thanabalan Tangaraja & Tai Mee Yuen & Saravin Kumar Binu Kumar, 2018. "Exploration and Integration of Ethical Leadership Potential Dimensions and Differential Employee Voice Behaviour – A Strategic Management Perspective," Business Management and Strategy, Macrothink Institute, vol. 9(1), pages 272-289, December.
    7. Kociatkiewicz, Jerzy & Kostera, Monika, 2018. "After retrotopia? The future of organizing and the thought of Zygmunt Bauman," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 335-342.
    8. Egels-Zandén, Niklas, 2016. "Not made in China: Integration of social sustainability into strategy at Nudie Jeans Co," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 45-51.

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