2 - The Context of Globalization, Sustainability and Financialization

Summary

Wealth creation and human rights gain particular significance in the context of globalization, sustainability and financialization. Globalization is understood as “a kind of international system in the making” (T.L. Friedman), characterized by an increasing interconnectedness of the world, due to the revolution of information technology and an immense reduction in the costs of transportation and communication. A new framework of international relations distinguishes four types: the foreign-country type, the empire type, the interconnection type and the globalization type. They are part of the extended conception of business and economic ethics at the micro-, meso- and macro-levels. Sustainability, defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development (1987), is incorporated and concretized in the Sustainable Development Goals (2015). And financialization as “the increasing role of financial motives, financial markets, financial actors and financial institutions in the operation of the domestic and international economies” (G.A. Epstein) stands in striking contrast with the comprehensive conception of wealth creation.