Christian Humanism - Politisches Bildungsforum Berlin
Fachkonferenz
Details
Introduction
Pope Francis, among other religious authorities, has called on business leaders around the world to spread a new mindset in business that includes the poor and the marginalized. He deplores inequality and injustice. These terms and concepts pose an intellectual challenge as well as an appeal to practical realization. This conference will concentrate on the intellectual side and hopes to stimulate reflection on programs of action and education of private and public solidarity.
Organizing Institutions
● Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V., Berlin
● MCE (Markets, Culture and Ethics) – Research Centre of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome
● IESE Barcelona, Chair of Business Ethics
● The Catholic University of America (CUA), Washington DC
● Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago de Chile
● Lumen Christi Institute for Catholic Thought, Chicago
● Katholische Sozialwissenschaftliche Zentralstelle Mönchengladbach
● Universidad de Navarra, Facultad de Economía, Spain
Sponsors:
● Immobilienkanzlei Mag. Wolf-Dietrich Schneeweiss
● Gradus Proximus Corporate Advisory GmbH
Rationale
Poverty has many meanings: Poverty can be absolute (misery and deprivation) or relative (inequality). There will always be relative poverty on earth due to the inevitability of at least some degree of inequality: everybody is born in different physical and social circumstances that condition his or her development. As a consequence one has more than the other, one is considered rich and the other poor due to this difference in wealth even though the person considered as relatively poor does not suffer dearth. This form of inequality is perceived as unjust when it arises despite the equal effort of the persons involved: On a level playing field, equal effort should have equal result.
Absolute poverty, however, is an appeal to humanity. Suffering must not be tolerated but alleviated as far as it is humanly possible. Furthermore, if absolute poverty is caused by human actions through the intentional exclusion from achieving a de cent livelihood, we perceive it as unfair and unjust. The adequate reaction to this sentiment is justice and charity.
Our perception of justice is the basis for our dealing with poverty, both absolute and relative. The basic principles of justice are universally valid and should be made applicable. However, their concrete application depends on specific circumstances and on culture. Our strategies to fight poverty and our perception of justice must be thus aligned in order to be carried out by our society as a whole. All this must be based on a deep understanding of the many dimensions of our sense of justice.
A possible solution – Using the global market economy to fight poverty
One way to fight absolute poverty, which is in line with the performance-oriented sense of justice of the industrialized Western world, is enabling the participation of the poor in the market economy. This means providing the opportunity for the poor to create their own livelihood. Both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have called for fighting poverty in this way.
Latin America can serve as an example. Its specific macroeconomic conditions offer the opportunity to look at the market economy as an instrument to fight poverty in the light of a progressing globalization and the related increased economic possibilities. In our view, Latin America offers in its experience best practice examples as well as cases of dysfunctionalities, which permit us to draw a differentiated picture of the reality of the free market and helps us reflect about the necessary conditions for
its functioning.
We need to investigate through which means and approaches the global market economy can best fight poverty around the globe. We will especially consider the proposal of ordoliberalism, as it built the starting point for social market economy after World War II, helping to promote prosperity for all. It remains to be seen, however, if such an endeavor can be repeated in our changed global economic situation.
Schedule
October 23, 2016
Informal get together
October 24, 2016
10:00 o'clock
Registration
11:00 o'clock
Opening
11:15 -13:00 o'clock
Plenary session 1 on Poverty
Chairperson:
Lord Stephen Green of Hurstpierpoint,
former British Minister of State for Trade and Investment, and former Group Chairman of HSBC Holdings plc
Speakers:
● Prof. Dr. Joseph Kaboski,
David F. and Erin M. Seng Foundation Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at the University of Notre Dame, and Fellow of the Kellogg Institute
● Prof. Dr. Gerhard Kruip,
Professor of Christian Anthropology and Social Ethics at the Johannes-Gutenberg-University in Mainz, Germany
● Prof. Dr. Marcelo F. Resico,
Professor of Economics at the Catholic University of Argentina (UCA, Buenos Aires), Director of the Doctoral Program in Economics and the Research Program on Development and institutions
● Prof. Dr. Sabina Alkire,
Oliver T. Carr, Jr. Professor in International Affairs at the George Washington University, and Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) at Oxford University (invited)
Lunch
14:30-16:00 o'clock
Workshops Part 1
Break
16:30-18:00 o'clock
Workshops Part 2
Dinner
19:00-21:00 o'clock
Plenary session 2: Church /Politics /Science
Speakers:
● Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble MdB,
German Minister of Finance
● Prof. Dr. Roger Myerson,
The Glen A. Lloyd Distinguished Service Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago, and Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, 2007
● Joseph F X Zahra,
Vice Coordinator of the Council for the Economy of the Holy See
October 25, 2016
9:00-11:00 o'clock
Plenary Session 3 on Justice and Injustice
Chair:
Prof. Dr. Martin Schlag
Speakers:
● Prof. Dr. Leszek Balcerowicz,
Former Chairman of the National Bank of Poland, Former Prime Minister of Poland
● Prof. Dr. Daniel Haun,
Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Leipzig, Germany
● Prof. DDr. Martin Schlag,
Director of the Research Center “Markets, Culture and Ethics”, and Professor of Social Moral Theology at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome
Break
11:30-13:00 o'clock
Workshops Part 3
Lunch
14:30-16:00 o'clock
Workshops Part 4
Break
16:30-18:00 o'clock
Plenary session 4 on Equality and Inequality
Chairperson:
Lord Brian Griffiths of Fforestfach,
Member of the House of Lords, Vice-Chairman of Goldman Sachs International, London
Speakers:
● Prof. Dr. Maria Sophia Aguirre,
Professor of Economics at the Catholic University of America, Washington D.C.
● Prof. Dr. Peter Schallenberg,
Director of the Catholic Central Committee of Social Sciences in Mönchengladbach, Professor of Moral Theology and Ethics at the University of Paderborn, Germany
Closing evening
General Information
Organization and planning Support
Academic Coordinator of the Conference:
Dr. Daniela Ortiz,
Senior Researcher at the Center for Corporate Governance and Business Ethics at the University of Applied Sciences of the WKW, Vienna
E-Mail: info@christianhumanism2016.com
Chairpersons:
● Prof. Dr. Martin Schlag,
Academic Director, MCE Markets Culture and Ethics Research Centre, Pontificial University of the Holy Cross
E-mail: schlag@pusc.it
● Andreas Kleine-Kraneburg,
Konrad Adenauer Stiftung
E-Mail: Andreas.Kleine-Kraneburg@kas.de
Venue
Akademie der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V.
(Conference Center of the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation)
Tiergartenstr. 35
10785 Berlin
Please note: The Academy of the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation is fully accessible. For hearing impaired persons, an inductive listening system is available at the
lecture theater.
Registration fees
Ordinary Fee: €200,00
Professors of the organizing institutions and EBEN – Members: €150,00
Young Researchers and PhD Students: €100,00
