Winter Quarter 2012 - PHIL 120

Schedule: TR 12:00-1:20pm (111 LIL) & Discussion Sessions on FR with Johanna Luttrell

Office Hours: Tuesday 1:30-2:30pm & Wednesday 1:30-2:30pm - PLC 327
Syllabus

News:

1) IMPORTANT CHANGE (final exam):
The questions for your final exam will be posted on BB on March 6th (3 days earlier). This way you’ll have the same amount of time (as for the midterm) to write up your paper. Final Papers will be due on Friday, March 16th before 4:00pm BOTH on paper (in the main office of the Philosophy Department) and on Blackboard (similar submission process to RS).

2) The Discussion Session on Friday March 16th is rescheduled for Tuesday March 13th, from 1:30-2:30pm in 314 PLC. If you cannot make it to this session, please remember that I will be available (from 3/6 to 3/13) for you to talk about how best to structure your final paper and arguments. After 3/13, we could set up a Skype appointment if you need more help.

3) Our LAST lecture on Thursday March 15th is cancelled since I am a postdoc ambassador at the conference Quest for Research Excellence in Washington D.C.

4) LAST Reading Summary - on Cohen (143-166) or Gould - could be turned in either on Monday, 3/12 by 6pm or on Wednesday, 3/14 by 6pm. We strongly encourage you to turn this RS as soon as possible since this way you can focus on your final papers. Wed, 3/14 by 6pm is the LAST day when you can turn in a RS.

5) UO’s online course evaluation system is now open for Winter 2012 evaluations. It will be open until 07:00am on Monday, March 19th, 2012. Please take advantage of this opportunity to provide some feedback about this course. It is greatly appreciated.

Invited Speakers:

Bruce Blonigen, Knight Professor of Social Sciences, U of O [Topic: Sweatshops]

February 14th, 2012

Benjamin Powell, In Defense of Sweatshops

Jason Hickel, Rethinking Sweatshop Economics

Human Rights and Business Dilemmas Forum, Child Labor

AND

Cam Simpson, Reporter for Bloomberg News [Topic: Child Labor]

February 16th, 2012

Cam Simpson’s story about Victoria Secret and Child Picking Organic Cotton

Videos and Photos - here.

Cam Simpson discusses the use of forced child labor on Bloomberg news.

Extra-credit Opportunities:
Rule: Go to the event, write 1p single-spaced (normal margins), and email it (doc or pdf format) to both Johanna & I. Deadline to turn them in - Last Day of Class (Friday, March 16th by 9:00pm).

1. 1)Topic - “Corporate Governance in a Global Setting: Issues and Challenges”
   Dean Kees de Kluyer, University of Oregon, January 19, 2012 from 4:00pm to 5:15pm
   
   

2. 2)Topic - “The Role of a Private Wealth Manager”
   Terry Cook, Managing Director, UBS Investments, February 9, 2012 from 4:00pm to 5:15pm
   

3. 3)Topic - “Women’s Gains Mothers’ Losses: Capitalism and the Care Penalty”
   Nancy Folbre, Economics at U of Massachusetts Amherst, March 8, 2012 from 7:00pm
   
   

4. 4)Topic - Gender Equity and Capitalism
   Who: Any panel You can Go to or the Keynote Address by Alissa Trotz on March 9, 2012
   

Additional suggested readings/podcasts:

On week 9, we have talked about the relation between globalization and poverty. We explored two important ethical arguments for supporting the global poor (Singer & Pogge). Here attached also a short economics paper about debt relief and poor countries. B. Clements, R. Bhattacharya, and T.Q. Nguyen, Can Debt Relief Boost Growth in Poor Countries?

On week 8, we continue to discuss about globalization and labor conditions in third world countries. The Apple story continues. See, David Pogue’s recent post “What Cameras Inside Foxconn Found” on NYT and, a reply from Adam Ozimek, Taking the Broader Perspective on Foxconn - as well as a recent post Using Globalization For Good from The Economist.

ABC also visited Foxconn. See here the video.

On week 7, we talked about Jaggar’s article “Is Globalization Good for Women?”. Part of Jaggar’s argument is that globalization is not good for women (and, also children and men) because instead of producing more prosperity and social justice, it produces more poverty and inequality. Catherine Rampell shows that the “inequality is most extreme in wealth, not income” (March 30, 2011 - The New York Times).

On week 6, we will be talking about labor conditions. An important article has been recently published by The New York Times about Apple and its Suppliers.

1. 1)Nick Winfield and Charles Duhigg, Apple Lists its Suppliers for 1st Time (January 13, 2012)
   

2. 2)Listen also to Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory (454) aired on This American Life (1/6/12) - thanks Cam Simpson for the pointer.
   

3. 3)See the recent article iRobots, on a blog from the Economist - about Sweatshops in China (and Apple factories) “Anyway, that's one angle: sweatshops are awful, but working a tiny rice farm is clearly worse, judging by the workers' own preferences. However, the stance one takes on this depends on the question one is asking.”
   

4. 4)Some economists make reference to Paul Krugman’s article “In Praise of Cheap Labor - Bad Jobs at Bad Wages are better than No Jobs at All” published in Slate, March 21, 1997
   

5. 5)Professor Blonigen mentioned in class a 2008 OECD report on Employment and Industrial Relations: Promoting Responsible Business Conduct in a Globalizing Economy.
   One can read in Section 5 (Conclusions and Remarks), “Overall, the evidence indicates that MNEs tend to promote higher pay in the countries in which they operate [... this having also] a small positive impact on wages in domestic firms participating in the supply chains established by MNEs.”
   

On week 5, we have talked about leadership and stability of character traits. An important counterargument comes from the situationist literature in social psychology. In order to understand how situations influence our behavior, see this TED Talk with Philip Zimbardo on “How people become monsters... or heroes.”

Additional Readings: Philip Zimbardo’s The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil

On week 4, we will be talking about Women and Work. The Economist had a great special report in their Print Edition of Nov 26th, 2011.

See here (a few articles),
1) Closing the Gap

2) Female Labour Markets - The Cashier & The Carpenter

3. 3)Women in China - The Sky’s the limit
   

4. 4)Looking Ahead - Here’s to the next half century
   

On week 3, we have talked about the importance of the past financial crisis and the necessity for reform. Here - the link to a podcast with Michael Barr, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and key architect of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, where he discusses the origins of the financial crisis, assesses the extent to which reforms help consumers and make the system safer, and end "too big to fail."

Required Books (available at the Duck Store):

1. 1)Robert Audi, Business Ethics and Ethical Business (Oxford UP, 2009)
   

2. 2)Daniel Cohen, Globalization and Its Enemies (MIT Press, 2006)
   

3. 3)Additional Required Readings will be available on Blackboard [BB]