Ethics of Globalization: Challenges and Prospects

Abstract

Globalization has enormous implications. As convergence of technologies facilitated people to connect, people not only communicated but also started collaborating. A flat world that facilitates multiple forms of collaboration in sharing knowledge and work among billions of people without regard to geography, distance or language poses new challenges and problems for lawmakers and judges. When billions of people connect and collaborate and generate value in goods and services horizontally rather than vertically, complex issues are bound to arise. Such disputes emerge in the shape of challenges, which can be called global. Now global challenges demand global solutions as well. Individual countries find themselves unable to deal with such problems, and the problems are such that they cannot be ignored. Handling them together is the obvious and only way to ensure that they are properly tackled. It would be possible when the entire world’s people have a stake and all enjoy the opportunity to participate. We all share one atmosphere where overexploitation of the environment in the industrialized countries can result in ecosystem destruction. In developing a workable and effective international legal system, participation of all states is required. Lastly, we are all part of a human community. So we need to consider our actions accordingly. And to do so from a script that is written afresh every day by billions of human beings with whom we all share our planet raises demand for the formulation of a global civic ethic grounded in universally shared values and expressed in interlocking rights and responsibilities. Present paper intends to explore the possibility of such an ethics.