CALL FOR PAPERS
We invite contributions in the form of papers for an edited book
volume
RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT IN TIMES OF TURMOIL
to be published by Springer (Issues in Business Ethics Series)
Editors: Wim Vandekerckhove (Ghent University), Jos Leys (Catholic
University of Leuven), Kristian Alm (BI Norwegian School of
Management), Bert Scholtens (University of Groningen), Silvana
Signori (University of Bergamo), Henry Schäfer (University of
Stuttgart).
Just before the current economic and financial turmoil, the
Responsible Investment (RI)phenomenon was said to be entering the
mainstream of financial intermediation.
From a fairly marginal practice promoted or campaigned for by NGOs
and religious groups and at odds with financial practice and
orthodoxy it grew into well formulated policy adopted by a wide range
of investors. Academic literature on RI has also boomed on the
assumption that mainstreaming is
taking place.
However, little thinking has been carried out on questions
specifically arising from this alleged ?mainstreaming?. This
book, addressed to those with a scholarly or practitioner?s
interest in RI, starts filling this neglected dimension.
Today, one cannot ignore the difficulties of main stream financing.
The financial spheres are trembling globally in one of the worst
crises since the 1930?s. As a response to the crises, the
intermediation of ?financial responsibility? will undoubtedly be
the subject of new regulation and scrutinizing. This book looks
into what these turbulences will imply for RI.
In view of these circumstances, we must ask ourselves whether the
phenomenon was not an empty fad during the exuberant high of
financial euphoria that came abruptly to an end with current
financial crises. Are financial intermediaries that promote
?sustainability? credible, while it is obvious that some
developments in financial intermediation -predictably, as some say-
were unsustainable? Further, is the current turmoil an opportunity
for enhancing RI because of the strength and superiority it has
developed or will it disappear due to a return to financial myopia?
This book is the first to question the future of RI in such a radical
way.
The book will encompass 5 blocks of chapters:
1. Knowledge about RI
2. Lessons from RI
3. Ethics of RI
4. Politics and RI
5. Global Worries for RI
Further details about the invited content and submission guidelines
are available on:
http://www.cevi-globalethics.ugent.be/index.php?id=14&type=content
Deadline for the submission of draft papers is July 15, 2009
Potential authors are advised to contact the lead editor, Wim
Vandekerckhove, to discuss their paper ideas.
wim.vandekerckhove@gmail.com
(office tel): +32 9264 3951
