Respect and economic democracy (SPES-Cahiers, nr. 6)

Respect and democracy are not mainstream concepts in
economics and business. They belong originally to the
field of ethics and politics. What could be the added value
of that transfer of concepts from ethics and politics to
economics and business? To what extent do respect and
democracy get a specific content when introduced in the
economic sphere?

Respect and Economic Democracy is based on the hypothesis
that democracy will become a growing ingredient
of good business and leadership. The contributions
of this sixth European SPES Cahier disclosing new practices
of democratic entrepreneurship confirm this hypothesis.
The authors assume that economic democracy
implies a commitment rooted in respect and explore the
spiritual, ethical and economic meaning of respect.

Luk Bouckaert is emeritus professor of ethics at the
Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium). He is founder
and president of the European SPES Forum. His latest
research and publications fall within the scope of business
ethics and spirituality.

Pasquale Arena is associate professor of Business Economics
at the University of Catania (Italy), Department
of Business, Culture and Society. His main areas of research
focus on Business Ethics and Social Responsibility.