IDEA at World Social Forum 2016

IDEA @ World Social Forum: August 9-14, Montreal, Canada.
https://fsm2016.org/
https://fsm2016.org/en/groupes/international-development-ethics-association/

This is the current presentation schedule. Updates to the program after 15 June 2016 may be found here, and will not be posted at the fsm.org site. 

 

First Session: Ideas of justice: global and philosophical concerns, wealth, and children
Gail Presbey, Nico Brando, Nathanael Ojong, Carlos Zorro-Sanchez
Université McGill – Leacock Building / Pavillon Leacock (Local 116): 855 rue Sherbrooke Ouest – Montréal      Aug 10 2016 13:00 – 15:30 https://www.mcgill.ca/maps/leacock-building

Second Session: Justice, Development and Health / Justice, développement et santé / Justicia, Desarrollo y Salud:
James Crombie, Paul Thacker, Helen Lauer
Université McGill – Leacock Building / Pavillon Leacock (Local 116): 855 rue Sherbrooke Ouest – Montréal      Aug 11 2016 13:00 – 15:30 https://www.mcgill.ca/maps/leacock-building

Third Session: Deliberative processes, politics and environmental and social safeguards:
Eric Palmer, Jay Drydyk,Valeria Bizzari, Miranda Loli
Université McGill – Arts Building / Pavillon des Arts (Local 350): 853, rue Sherbrooke Ouest – Montréal     Aug 12 2016 13:00 – 15:30 https://www.mcgill.ca/maps/arts-building

 

First Session: Ideas of justice: global and philosophical concerns, wealth, and children  

 

Gail Presbey, University of Detroit, Mercy, USA
Brazilian Social Movements Addressing Poverty: Methods of Protest

The paper will survey current debates in Brazil regarding the methods that they think can best address the ongoing problems of wealth disparity, poverty, and children’s vulnerability. Brazil’s social programs intended to alleviate poverty especially for children are in jeopardy as interim government led by Michel Temer threatens to reduce Bolsa Família to 1/5 of current coverage. Already women’s groups have also engaged in civil disobedience to protest Temer’s appointment of an all-male Cabinet.

 

Nico Brando, KU Leuven, Belgium.
What Kind of Development for the World’s Children? Between Social Embeddedness and Universal Principles

Social justice demands fulfilling the claims of children. We need to balance their social and cultural roots, with the global promotion of their capability to exercise autonomous agency. Their development demands reflexive adherence to their local and global environment.

 

Nathanael Ojong, Tyndale University College, Canada.
Religion, morality and commercial microfinance: perspectives from Cameroon

Do religious beliefs and practices have any impact on the moral behaviour of those who supply micro-financial services to the poor? We attempt to answer this question by examining the actions and behaviour of the suppliers of micro-financial services in Cameroon.
Key words: Cameroon, microfinance, corruption, religion, poverty, morality

 

Carlos Zorro-Sanchez, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia.
Utilitarian Ethics and Corruption

I consider recent scandals of corruption in several countries involving private and public agents to disclose the ethical ideas underlying the arguments used to defend the acts of some of the main protagonists of these events. Corruption may be tolerated or even culturally and legally accepted as a part of the dynamics of social evolution or as a valid strategy in contemporary economic activity or international policy. If so, corruption involves ethical and cultural questions concerning the whole capitalistic system and associated utilitarian ethical criteria.

 

Second Session: Justice, Development and Health / Justice, développement et santé / Justicia, Desarrollo y Salud

James Crombie, Université Sainte-Anne, Canada
Les maladies tropicales injustement négligées par la recherche face au régime dominant de propriété intellectuelle / The unjust neglect of tropical diseases by medical research under the TRIPS Agreement.
Comment expliquer que les innovations pharmaceutiques promises en vertu du système de brevets n’aient pas été au rendez-vous? Moins de 10% de la recherche médicale dans le monde porte sur les problèmes de santé de 90% de la population mondiale.
What is the explanation for the lack of pharmaceutical innovation, in spite of the protection afforded by the TRIPS system of patents? Less than 10% of medical research is devoted to the health problems of 90% of the world’s population.

Paul Thacker, Independent journalist, Madrid, Spain. (Presenting by Skype)
“Fighting Corruption in Health Care: Lessons from the United States and the Physician Payments Sunshine Act”

Helen Lauer, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
What makes people sick in Africa: the contributions of implicit norms in the global health arena to perpetuating high rates of morbidity and mortality

 

Third Session: Deliberative processes, politics and environmental and social safeguards

 Eric Palmer, Allegheny College, USA.
Sustaining public consultation for the Sustainable Development Goals

Creation of the MDGs included more public consultation than seen for previous agreements. That process was retired in 2014 and UN rhetoric shifted to enrolling public endorsement. I ask WSF participants to discuss the path forward for such public consultation.

 

Jay Drydyk, Carleton University, Canada.
The Rise and Fall of the World Bank’s Environmental and Social Safeguards

World Bank is currently consulting publicly on a new social and environmental safeguards framework; 350 CSOs have signed a letter highly critical of the framework.  I will consider whether the new framework will strengthen social safeguards, as the Bank maintains, or weaken them even further, as the CSOs fear

 

 Miranda Loli, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (Presenting by skype)

The curious case of anti-corruption: Reinserting political struggles in the anti-corruption regime

This paper examines this ongoing process of de-politicization of (anti)corruption especially in terms of the increasing standardization and technization of governance.

 

Valeria Bizzari, University of Pisa, Italy; Timothy Tambassi, University of Eastern Piedmont & University of Parma, Italy. (Presenting by skype)
Democracy, Representation, Sovereignty

Is it possible: a democratic and representative global governance? Are international organizations democratic? What is the role of states? We will try to answer to all of these questions drawing on political philosophy and economic theories.

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