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Beyond Small-Is-Beautiful: A Buddhist and Feminist Analysis of Ethics and Business

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  • Nelson, Julie A.

Abstract

Buddhist philosophy teaches a thoroughly relational ontology, holding that what really is are relations and processes enfolding out of a common substrate though time. Often, however, attempts to apply Buddhist thinking to economic issues seem to forget this. Corporations and markets are described in the language of substantive structures and impersonal mechanisms, rather than in relational and process terms. This essay argues that a thorough-going Buddhist analysis, supplemented by contemporary insights from feminist theory, yields a relational understanding of business firms and markets that can help move debates about ethics and business beyond issues of scale.

Suggested Citation

  • Nelson, Julie A., 2004. "Beyond Small-Is-Beautiful: A Buddhist and Feminist Analysis of Ethics and Business," Working Papers 15578, Tufts University, Global Development and Environment Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:tugdwp:15578
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.15578
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ferber, Marianne A. & Nelson, Julie A. (ed.), 2003. "Feminist Economics Today," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226242064.
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    6. Aguayo, Francisco & Gallagher, Kevin P., 2005. "Economic reform, energy, and development: the case of Mexican manufacturing," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 829-837, May.
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    9. Jonathan M. Harris & Neva R. Goodwin, "undated". "Reconciling Growth and Environment," GDAE Working Papers 03-03, GDAE, Tufts University.
    10. Aguayo, Francisco & Gallagher, Kevin P. & Gonzalez, Ana Citlalic, 2001. "Dirt is in the Eye of the Beholder: The World Bank Air Pollution Intensities for Mexico," Working Papers 15576, Tufts University, Global Development and Environment Institute.
    11. Harris, Jonathan M., 2000. "Basic Principles of Sustainable Development," Working Papers 15600, Tufts University, Global Development and Environment Institute.
    12. Neva R. Goodwin & Oleg I. Ananyin & Frank Ackerman & Thomas E. Weisskopf, "undated". "Economics in Context: The Need for a New Textbook," GDAE Working Papers 00-02, GDAE, Tufts University.
    13. Kevin P. Gallagher & Francisco Aguayo & Ana Citlalic González, "undated". "Dirt is in the Eye of the Beholder: The World Bank Air Pollution Intensities for Mexico," GDAE Working Papers 01-07, GDAE, Tufts University.
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    Cited by:

    1. Timothy A. Wise, "undated". "The Paradox of Agricultural Subsidies: Measurement Issues, Agricultural Dumping, and Policy Reform," GDAE Working Papers 04-02, GDAE, Tufts University.
    2. Teik Aun Wong & Mohammad Reevany Bustami, 2020. "A Case Study of Micro Businesses in Jelutong Wet Market in Penang, Malaysia: Implications for CSR Scholarship," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(3), pages 535-546, September.
    3. Rodrigo Lozano & Masachika Suzuki & Angela Carpenter & Olga Tyunina, 2017. "An Analysis of the Contribution of Japanese Business Terms to Corporate Sustainability: Learnings from the “Looking-Glass” of the East," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-17, February.
    4. Charlotte M. Karam & Michelle Greenwood & Laura Kauzlarich & Anne O’Leary Kelly & Tracy Wilcox, 2023. "Intimate Partner Violence and Business: Exploring the Boundaries of Ethical Enquiry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 187(4), pages 645-655, November.
    5. Abeysuriya, Kumudini & Mitchell, Cynthia & White, Stuart, 2007. "Can corporate social responsibility resolve the sanitation question in developing Asian countries?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 174-183, April.
    6. Martins, Nuno Ornelas, 2022. "Sustainability and development through the humanistic lens of Schumacher and Sen," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    7. Mai Chi Vu & Nicholas Burton, 2024. "Beyond the Inclusion–Exclusion Binary: Right Mindfulness and Its Implications for Perceived Inclusion and Exclusion in the Workplace," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 191(1), pages 147-165, April.

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