Mattel,Lead Paint,and Magnets: Ethics and Supply Chain Management

Over a period of 19 months in 2006 and 2007, Mattel recalled approximately 14 million toys. The company was subjected to numerous lawsuits and regulatory actions and suffered severe damage to its reputation. Two issues were involved: excessive levels of lead in numerous toy surface paints and small detachable magnets in some toys, which could be swallowed. An examination of the facts shows that two different ethical situations were involved—one concerning product design and the other concerning manufacturing practices of Mattel's Chinese contractors and subcontractors. The ethical obligations of the company and individuals within the company in the two situations were quite different, and illustrate problems faced by companies in managing their global supply chains.     

Copts,the State and the 1949–1950 al-Majlis al-Millī Electoral Crisis: Articulating Community in a Time of Anxiety

ABSTRACT

In October 1949, the Coptic Communal Council, al-Majlis al-Millī, failed to run elections as scheduled in the midst of conflict with the clergy. The following April, the Egyptian government intervened by dissolving the Council in favour of an appointed body and by amending its bylaws to allow for the Coptic patriarch and the state to intervene in the case that future elections were delayed. This prompted controversy in the community, as supporters of the Council criticized the intervention for depriving the body of its democratic nature. However, opponents of the Council used the legislation to criticize the body for its aggressive posturing and to assert the authority of the clergy over the laity in communal affairs. This article explores the 1949–1950 intervention alongside the anxieties of late-liberal-era Egypt. By investigating the conversations that occurred in the government and the communal press, I argue that the election crisis served as a flashpoint for parties to lay claim to their particular visions of community by focusing on themes of communal representation, spheres of sovereignty and the maintenance of order.     

Race,Caste, and Christianity

Race and caste are two important historical and social categories that had a significant role during the European colonial period and in the colonies. Christian missionary activities during the colonial period often colluded with the colonial institutions in perpetuating certain accepted worldviews that benefited the colonial authorities. The central argument of this paper is to highlight the impact of a racialized worldview that was prevalent among European colonial powers, its transmission to the colonial context, and its continuing social legacy within Christianity. This paper, through a post-colonial analysis of British mission history and its work in a South Asian context, raises some pertinent questions regarding the tacit role of race and caste in the Christianizing mission. It also argues the need for careful post-colonial analysis of mission practices to challenge reactivation of entrenched structures of discrimination and prejudice.     

Human and Global Identities: Different Prototypical Meanings of All-Inclusive Identities

The impact of identities encompassing all human beings (e.g., human and/or global identities) on intergroup relations is complex, with studies showing mostly positive (e.g., less dehumanization), but also negative (e.g., deflected responsibility for harm behavior), effects. However, different labels and measures have been used to examine the effects of these all-inclusive superordinate identities, without a systematic empirical examination of the extent to which they overlap or differ in their sociopsychological prototypical content. This study examined whether different labels activate the same contents in laypeople's conceptualization. Two hundred and forty-eight participants openly described one of six labels: “All humans everywhere”; “People all over the world”; “People from different countries around the world”; “Global citizens”; “Citizens of the world”; and “Members of world community.” Results from quantitative content analyses showed that the different labels activated different thematic attributes, representing differences in their core prototypical meaning. We propose that a general distinction should be made between labels that define membership based on human attributes (e.g., biological attributes) and those that evoke attributes characteristic of membership in a global political community (e.g., attitudinal attributes), as their effect on intergroup relations may vary accordingly.     

推理表征影响整体推理的实验研究

本研究采用５个实验探讨了推理表征对整体推理的影响。研究结果表明，读者在演绎推理和类比推理的条件下可以保持课文的整体连贯即整体推理，只是由于工作记忆容量有限，推理表征对于保持整体推理具有弱化作用。     

Confirmatory factor analysis of the five-item version of the Francis scale of attitude towards Christianity in adolescent students

ABSTRACT

The brief scale of Francis for religiosity (Francis-5) has shown acceptable psychometric performance in Colombian adolescents. However, a confirmatory factorial analysis (CFA) has not been performed. The objective of the researche was to make a CFA to the Francis-5 in a sample of students of Santa Marta, Colombia. A validation study was performed. 350 students between 10 and 17 years old, and 54% were female. A CFA was performed to test the dimensionality of different versions of five and four items of the scale. Authors calculated five goodness of fit indexes indices (Chi square, RMSEA, CFI, TLI, and SMSR). The Francis-5 presented as goodness-of-fit coefficients, chi squared = 18.5, gl = 5, p = .002, RMSEA = .09 (CI90% .05 to .13), CFI = .99, TLI = .99, and SMSR = .01. And the version with the best coefficients of goodness was the Francis-5 without the fourth item (‘Pray helps me a lot’) with chi squared = .55, gl = 2, p = .76, RMSEA = .00 (CI90% .00 to .07), CFI = 1.00, TLI = 1.00, and SMSR = .01. As conclusions, the dimensionality of the Francis-5 is questionable. For a version without the item 4 the data are better fit.     

Creaturely Solidarity

This essay examines several recent contributions to the growing literature on animal ethics from Christian perspectives. I categorize the four books under review in one of three ways depending on the scholars' methodological points of departure: (1) a reconstruction of the place of other animals in Christian history through a selective retrieval of texts and practices; (2) an identification of a key Christian ethical principle; and (3) a reconsideration of foundational doctrines of systematic theology. On the premise that social ethicists are interested in not only understanding the world, but also changing it, I observe that these authors have offered different answers to the following three questions: (1) whether the theoretical basis for reform is ultimately grounded upon notions of human sameness or difference with other animals; (2) whether scholar‐activists should emphasize logic over passion or values over interests (or vice versa) in their calls for transformation; and (3) whether moral motivation for their targeted audiences is best served by reliance upon secular argumentation and interdisciplinary research or upon the distinctive claims of revelation and other tradition‐specific norms. I conclude by offering my own thoughts about which approaches might prove more effective than others.     

Vocation for travel. Catholic priestly training in Sri Lanka

ABSTRACT

Catholic priests and advanced seminarians in Sri Lanka often describe their entrance to the seminary as the response to a strong spiritual calling that they could not ignore. Young seminarians offer more ambiguous narratives, where a combination of material anxieties, local cultural traditions and individual aspirations, encourage them to consider joining the clergy. This article examines how seminaries highlight aspects of religious formation where vocational discernment and the authenticity of one's calling are left for later stages of formation. Emphasizing aspects of career mobility, graduate studies overseas and missionary work, seminaries provide an attractive alternative for prospective priests in Sri Lanka. I argue that there is no contradiction between the spiritual dimensions of religious vocation and the material aspirations of seminarians. Although ethical dispositions emerge and replace the mundane impulses that initially attract young men to the seminary, material incentives are never completely eliminated from the vocational map of seminarians.     

Introduction: symposium on Brooke Ackerly’s Just Responsibility: A Human Rights Theory of Global Justice

ABSTRACT

This symposium brings together normative and empirical scholars in dialogue on Brooke Ackerly’s innovative and compelling recent monograph, Just Responsibility. Contributors discuss the book’s distinctive grounded normative theory methodology, its arguments for how individuals can take appropriate responsibility for global structural injustices, and its potential for practical impact.