Preface

Economic growth has been a universal goal during recent decades, but growth cannot continue forever, because of resource and needs limitations. Neo-liberalism is therefore not a viable economic model. It lacks social responsibility, which it misunderstands and prohibits; thus, it helps monopolies dominate the world under the label of the free market. ISO 26000 on Social Responsibility (ISO, 2010) elaborates an innovative alternative. European Union (2011) recommends its member states and big companies to support social responsibility as the way out from the current crisis; it defines social responsibility as one’s responsibility for one’s impacts on society, i.e. humans and other nature. It is found complementary with sustainable development.

This book offers an approach for implementation of ISO 26000, based on its two linking concepts: interdependence and holism. They come from systems theory and cybernetics, which can unite the sciences with all other branches of knowledge and related behavior, while the traditional division of the sciences and humanities tends to separate them. Specialization can lead to important in-depth insights but can also cause important failures, as evidenced by the 2008 economic crisis, the two World Wars, continuing warfare, and other major socio-environmental crises.

Neo-liberalism differs from socially responsible liberalism, which includes the following attributes: individual human freedom; tolerance; shared power; maximum well-being for the majority; freedom of economic activity; entrepreneurship; a class-free society of free and equal individuals; a middle-class society with no essential differences in property level; security from the self-will of government, including the state; power in synergy with responsibility; science, education, and art; civil society (Prunk, 2010).

This book series will explore these relationships in seven interrelated parts, as follows:

1. Radical Innovation of Values, Culture, Ethics, and Norms (VCEN) required for Social Responsibility (chapters 1 – 4, volume 1).
2. The Range of Perspectives on Social Responsibility (chapters 1 – 5, volume 2).
3. Social Responsibility as Practiced in Selected Nations (chapters 6 – 8, volume 2).
4. Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development (chapters 1 – 4, volume 3).
5. Environmental Education, Social Responsibility, and Management (chapters 5 – 8, volume 3).
6. Methodologies for Social Responsibility (chapters 1 – 5, volume 4).
7. Implementation of Social Responsibility (chapters 6 – 13 + Epilogue, volume 4).

The papers in each section were prepared by international groups of 18 authors, researchers, and practitioners from 13 countries in a variety of subject matter fields.