Notion Of Collective Responsibility Research Articles

Russia’s Minority Institutions, Ethnic Boundaries, and Social-Humanitarian Work: A Case of Collective Responsibility?

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the interconnection of ethnic boundary-making and collective responsibility, with reference to the social-humanitarian work of Russia’s ethnic minority organizations. Employing data from interviews with minority representatives, it shows that the notion of collective responsibility has played a role in reproducing (symbolic) ethnic boundaries, through the interplay of three factors: ethnic institutions, social networks and power distribution. These processes unfold in a sociopolitical context that places an emphasis on stability and security. Meanwhile, macro-level dynamics (state-endorsed discourses and structural conditions) interact with micro-level processes (minority representatives' experiences and actions) – both impacting upon Russia’s nationalities policy.

Not in their hands only: hospital hygiene, evidence and collective moral responsibility

Hospital acquired infections (HAIs) are a major threat to patient safety. This paper addresses the following question: given what is known about the causes of and possible interventions on HAIs, to whom or what should the moral responsibility for preventing these infections be attributed? First, we show how generating robust evidence on the effectiveness of preventive hygiene measures is a complex endeavour and review the existing evidence on the causes of HAIs. Second, we demonstrate that the existing literature on the ethical aspects of infection control has focused on responsibility at the individual-level. Thirdly, we argue that these accounts do not accommodate systemic factors relevant for HAI prevention. We show that the notion of collective responsibility is useful for making understandable how systemic factors, such as employment conditions in hospitals, are both causally and ethically relevant in infection control.

A Malady of the Left and an Ethics of Communism

One cannot be responsible for a generic truth, argues Badiou in his critical rejoinder to Sartre; one can only be its militant. Challenging Badiou’s formulation, I propose that his plea for a new stage of the communist hypothesis, which unfolds in the wake of subjective decomposition of the Left, must draw upon the Sartrean notion of collective responsibility to affirm interminable inscription of the egalitarian axiom in a novel political sequence without forcing a violent realisation of equality. Encapsulated in an enigmatic formula, ‘one and one make one,’ Sartrean ethics of the Same compel the Badiouian militant subject to heed the excluded demands of the new proletariat insofar as the latter occupies ‘a point of exile where it is possible that something, finally, might happen.’

A Failure of Laïcité: Analyzing the Ongoing Discrimination of French-Muslims in the 21st Century

The question of how to deal with the “Muslim problem” has once again arisen in France, opening old wounds of colonization and cultural racism. France’s rich Christian past and the historical context of the French-Algerian conflict are key players in the modern suffering of Muslims in French Society. Its colonization of Africa included nations such as Morocco, Indochina, Madagascar and notably in this context, Algeria in 1830. In their valiant fight for independence, the National Liberation Front was launched by Algerians and resulted in a bloody struggle that still haunts the Muslim-French relations in modern France. Though Algeria achieved its independence in 1962, the overall negative attitude towards immigrants from the region remains. Beyond the impact of colonization, the imbalanced living conditions of Muslims and their fellow Frenchmen, as seen by the French banlieues, have turned into a hunting ground for jihadists. The skewed standard of living, exacerbated by the predatory manner of jihadists, suggests that the French be held under a standard of collective responsibility. Thus, under the failing social constructs of the banlieue, Abdelmajid Hannoum’s article “Cartoons, Secularism, and Inequality,” published following the attack on Charlie Hebdo, speaks to the means by which the French ideals of fraternity and equality do not apply to the Muslim populace on the basis of historical animosity and ingrained Islamophobia. Moreover, failure of the French government to unbiasedly enforce their policy of complete secularism plays into the discrimination against Muslims and interferes with the performance of religious traditions, such as in the case of the 2004 ban, which unjustly prevents females from wearing their hijabs, burkas and niqabs. As addressed in The Republic Unsettled: Muslim French and the Contradictions of Secularism by Mayanthi Fernando, there had been attempts to police the religious headwear of Muslim women previously which calls into question the validity of France’s claim to secularism. Legislation like the ban of 2004 allows for blatant discrimination. Unchecked, these factors lead to violent outbursts of extremist retaliation, which is followed by the notion of collective responsibility and pushing of a narrative that holds all Muslims as potential terrorists. Through media, unchecked publications run rampant with this damaging ideal, supporting islamophobia to help to justify discrimination. In the instance of the Charlie Hebdo attack, the common narrative pointed to the attack occurring from born and bred Muslims, but in reality, the guilty parties were driven into jihadism by a number of failings in social service programs. To supplement the research and cold fact, the novel I Die by This Country by Fawzia Zouari, which is based on a real French headline, speaks to the ongoing, every day struggle that French Muslims still endure. There is an evident link between the lasting economic, political and social inequalities faced by 21st century French-Muslims and their historical conflicts with French imperialism and deep-rooted Christian attitudes. The influence of history on the struggle of French Muslims in the 21st century is displayed by the grouping of Muslims into lower income communities, as well as headlines of police violence and anti-Muslim attitudes taken on by political leaders. The conflicts faced by Muslims within the French state is not secularism and until all citizens are, in the eyes of the state, regarded as French first and foremost, conflicts of violence and terror will continue to gain a foothold.

Mothers' experiences of a voucher scheme within the context of Hong Kong's early education: Issues of affordability and justice

This paper examines issues of affordability and justice using the concept of “basic structure” as developed by Iris M. Young in order to produce a more nuanced account of the Pre-primary Education Voucher Scheme. We draw on the experiences of Hong Kong mothers of different socio-economic status who have participated in the voucher scheme. The scheme aims to provide affordable quality early education by giving parents a flat-rate voucher so as to assist them in enrolling their children in non-profit local kindergartens. We base our arguments on the central premise that socially just policy requires meticulous attention to the basic structure that determines distributive patterns. We go on to argue that the basic structure is governed by institutional assumptions, rules, and practices about class, gender, and markets. Our analysis references both quantitative and qualitative data of a three-phased mixed-method study with >1400 mothers. The key findings reveal how mothers of different socio-economic backgrounds experienced the voucher scheme where power structures and relations are legitimized, thus contributing to the structural processes that reproduce constraints and injustice. Mothers' articulation regarding the policy recommendation of free early education adds insights into the constraints they experience and a notion of collective responsibility in supporting the education of young children.

The issue of a responsible agent in technological civilization

In our days, responsibility has become the most problematic aspect of almost all human actions, including influencing nature, scientific prognostication, and simulation of the future. The problem of responsibility is a sign of the crisis which we experience now, resulting from the gap between activities and knowledge about their consequences. Human activity has a mediated and collective nature, which makes it difficult to name the subject of responsibility. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the subjective aspect of responsibility related to the technological activity and conditions in which such liability may be plausibly attributed to any subject. Scientific and technological rationality is not a sufficient approach to face new problems ahead of us. Technological progress and moral crisis make us realize that we need a new moral system. Particularly, the idea of moral responsibility can be represented as a filter for technological innovations. However, the notion of moral responsibility has some restrictions when we attempt to apply it for technological activities. Analyzing the functions of multiform subjects of responsibility is a prerequisite to our understanding of the way in which scientific and technological progress shapes the contemporary society. We are trying to focus on the complicated notion of Collective Responsibility, which is, on the one hand, needs some philosophical implications due to appearance of new social changes and, on the other hand, analyzes the idea which allows reconstructing the whole discussion context. First of all, the authors attempt to show the main issues, which appear when researchers use this idea in their investigations. Simultaneously, the article describes the state of moral responsibility in Philosophy on the whole, where the authors define the Individual notion of responsibility, which is deeply rooted in the Western philosophical way of thinking.

On Thomas Pogge’s Theory of Global Justice. Why We Are Not Collectively Responsible for the Global Distribution of Benefits and Burdens between Individuals

Thomas Pogge’s ingenious and influential Rawlsian theory of global justice asserts that principles of justice such as the difference principle or, alternatively, a universal criterion of human rights consisting of a subset of the principles of social justice apply to the global basic structure or economic order. Individuals that contribute to upholding the latter and benefit from it are, Pogge emphasizes, jointly responsible for its unjust features, not least for the fact that it, foreseeably and avoidably, affects up to 18 million people per year in such a way that they die. The paper mounts an immanent criticism against Pogge revolving around his notion of collective responsibility. Especially, it argues that people cannot plausibly be held responsible for the distribution of benefits and burdens between individuals at the global level addressed by the kind of principles Pogge invokes. They, and their governments, can, and should, however, be held responsible for the unjust features of the existing law of peoples or states.

Health, Responsibility, and Choice: Contrasting Negotiations of Air Pollution and Immunisation Information

This paper presents an empirical study of public conceptions of responsibility and choice in relation to health protection, and the influence of these upon responses to official information. Two contrasting case studies are used, air pollution and childhood immunisation (specifically the MMR vaccination). The results confirm social networks and everyday experiences, and social normalisation of behaviour as important influences upon learning, responses to information, and the taking of personal action. People require information to support the freedom to make personal choices. However, the two cases illustrate that notions of collective responsibility are weaker, in the case of MMR overridden by personal responsibility, in the case of air pollution being transferred to other institutions. Conclusions are developed relating to information provision in an age promoting individualisation and retraction of government, specifically the need for explicit engagement with the benefits (personal and collective) of health protection measures.

Western European Pensions Privatisation: A Response to Jay Ginn

Our recent paper on state-mandated private pension schemes in Western Europe has been criticised by Ginn because it did not look specifically at the impact of private provision on women. This was not our intent, but she raises important issues that are largely ignored in economics-driven pension privatisation policy discourses. She has addressed this omission by demonstrating that private pension provision may result in significant levels of economic disadvantage among women retirees. We do not disagree with the broad thrust of her analysis and its conclusions. However, because she has failed to appreciate the crucial difference between voluntary and state-mandated private pension provision, her thoughtful analysis does not invalidate our proposition that the state-mandated provision of private pensions in Western Europe is consistent, to varying degrees, with the notion of collective responsibility for needs satisfaction.

Teaching Uncomfortable Topics: An Action-Oriented Strategy for Addressing Racism and Related Forms of Difference

The purpose of this article is to provide one pedagogical model for addressing uncomfortable topics in the classroom. More concretely, the model reconceptualizes the process of teaching and learning and generates an action-oriented strategy for dealing with a topic that typically creates classroom discomfortrace and racism. Traditional modes of learning are critically evaluated, highlighting how elements of these approaches can negatively impact one's understanding of race and racial differences. The paper then offers an alternative, action-oriented strategy grounded in the notions of collective responsibility, dialogue, and intersubjectivity, the Gramscian (1971) intellectual, the dialectic, and praxis. This strategy is concretized using examples of teaching and learning about racism and related forms of difference that occur both in and outside of the classroom.