The Annual Conference of the European SPES entitled “Respect and Economic Democracy” was organized by the University of Catania in April 17–18, 2009 in Catania, Italy.
The conference had the purpose to explore a common sense of respect, which can improve the dialogue between people and to act as a guarantor of an ethically balanced resources allocation. At the same time, the conference directed the attention of academics and practitioners to the gap between stakeholders and individuals and the lack or inefficiency of democratic mechanism in business governance.
Issues addressed were as follows:
What is the meaning of respect? The different aspects and contexts of respect. The balance between self-respect and respect for the others. Respect for nature and future generations. Respect as a basic value driven by spirituality in the context of globalization. The bottom line of respect as the minimum standard needed in transnational relations. Taking into account the stakeholder model, is it sufficient that the decision-making process fulfills the needs of individuals? Or do private and public governance need to look for new frontiers to utilize the resources effectively and ethically? What is economic democracy? Could we find a connection among motivation, participation, inner equilibrium, and democratic business? How can we
achieve a broad consensus among diverse stakeholders in business? How can the ethics of respect and economic democracy support new pathways in business, politics, and society?