Banking firms are becoming increasingly aware that their clients’ management of environmental and social risks may in term threaten their own business as lenders and investors. In addition, stakeholders are requiring banks to improve their social performance. As a result, some banks are developing corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and management systems to reduce potential risks and improve their performance. In the Spanish financial system, half of the banking firms are savings banks, most of which have always used some Corporate (...) Social Responsibility (CSR) criteria in their management. Private Banks have only recently started to integrate social aspects in their performance. However, no formal analysis has been carried out on the impact of CSR strategies. Various initiatives have been launched nationally and internationally to include the social dimension in management systems. The purpose of this research is to analyse the social performance of the main Spanish financial companies through public data such as social or sustainability reports and media sources. In order to do this, we need to determine which CSR criteria most greatly affect banking firms and to choose the most accurate quantitative and qualitative indicators to measure social performance. (shrink)

This paper addresses the question of whether and how public action via civil society and/or government can meaningfully shape industry-wide corporate responsibility behaviour. We explore how, in principle, ICR can come about and what conditions might be effective in promoting more ethical behaviour. We propose a framework to understand attempts to develop more responsible behaviour at an industry level through processes of negotiation and coalition building. We suggest that any attempt to meaningfully influence ICR would require stakeholders to possess both (...) power and legitimacy; moreover, magnitude and urgency of the issue at stake may affect the ability to influence ICR. The framework is applied to the retail banking industry, focusing on post-crisis experiences in two countries—Spain and the UK—where there has been considerable pressure on the retail banking industry by civil society and/or government to change behaviours, especially to abandon unethical practices. We illustrate in this paper how corporate responsibility at the sector level in retail banking is the product of context-specific processes of negotiation between civil society and public authorities, on behalf of customers and other stakeholders, drawing on legal and other institutions to influence industry behaviour. (shrink)

Should CSR be approached only on a voluntary basis or should it be complemented with a compulsory regulatory framework? What type of government intervention is more effective in fostering CSR among companies? This paper is an attempt to answer these questions, reviewing the debate between proponents of the voluntary case and the obligatory case for CSR, and critically analysing current international government-led initiatives to foster CSR among companies, and national government-led initiatives in the EU area. Finally, the paper focuses on (...) the Spanish case, as an example of the failure of an exclusively voluntary approach. Despite the rapid uprise of CSR, Spain is still far behind late in CSR promotion strategies. Most action has been undertaken by companies themselves with no common guidelines, governmental support, or independent verification. The lack of a regulatory framework for CSR or ethical investment issues and the virtual absence of other indirect incentives, explains the misbalance between private, public and Third Sector initiatives. Based on the Spanish context which is quite similar to other non-OECD countries, the authors call for a more proactive government position in CSR related issues. The conclusions of the paper detail the features of this regulatory framework and other policies to promote CSR in Spain as well as in other OECD countries. (shrink)

Banking firms are becoming increasingly aware that their clients’ management of environmental and social risks may in term threaten their own business as lenders and investors. In addition, stakeholders are requiring banks to improve their social performance. As a result, some banks are developing corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and management systems to reduce potential risks and improve their performance. In the Spanish financial system, half of the banking firms are savings banks, most of which have always used some Corporate (...) Social Responsibility (CSR) criteria in their management. Private Banks have only recently started to integrate social aspects in their performance. However, no formal analysis has been carried out on the impact of CSR strategies. Various initiatives have been launched nationally and internationally to include the social dimension in management systems. The purpose of this research is to analyse the social performance of the main Spanish financial companies through public data such as social or sustainability reports and media sources. In order to do this, we need to determine which CSR criteria most greatly affect banking firms and to choose the most accurate quantitative and qualitative indicators to measure social performance. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the quality of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting of Spanish companies listed in the IBEX-35 stock index Firstly, it establishes four requisites for quality in ESG reporting. Secondly, it evaluates whether ESG reports comply with these requirements. Using a benchmark tool based on GRI3 we can conclude that the GRI has resulted in some standardization of corporate social and environmental reporting, particularly as regards to format, but their approach to indicators is (...) unlikely to produce high quality information that is relevant, comparable, complete and accessible to all stakeholders. Also, there seems to be evidence that reporting is orientated to satisfy shareholders and investors´ demands rather than to other stakeholders´. (shrink)

Information asymmetries are regarded as the main obstacle for consumers to buy responsibly. CSR labels are considered the best tool to give consumers information about the brand's social and environmental performance. Yet, the information and credibility gap associated to the labels may render labels useless. This study aims to unveil the relationship of Spanish consumers with CSR labels, in order to assess the posited consequences of the information and credibility gap. To do so, 385 consumers were interviewed at the main (...) shopping centers in Madrid. The findings support the hypothesized gaps, which leads to recommend public policies in order to improve the effectiveness of CSR labels as an information tool. (shrink)

This study focuses on the application of multicriteria decision-making techniques, specifically the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), to identify corporate socialresponsibility information which both companies and stakeholders consider relevant and material. This work explains how the AHP methodology was applied in the selection of material indicators in corporate social responsibility reporting, the interpretation of these indicators and their relative importance. The results of this study are summarized in 60 indicators distributed in four areas: environment, economy, corporate governance and social. As this (...) last area contains the greatest number of indicators, it was divided into four sub-areas (human resources, human rights, product responsibility and society). (shrink)

Background:The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic caused a shortage of qualified nurses in Spain. As a result, the government authorized the hiring of senior students.Objectives:To explore the ethical dilemmas and ethical conflicts experienced by final-year nursing students who worked during the first outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain.Research design:A qualitative exploratory study was conducted using purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews were carried out using a question guide. Interviews took place via a private video chat room platform. A thematic, inductive (...) analysis was performed of the information gathered.Participants and research context:Eighteen nursing students were recruited from two universities of Madrid, aged between 18 and 65 years old, enrolled in the fourth year of nursing studies and who were hired under a relief contract for health professionals during the pandemic.Ethical considerations:The present study was carried out in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and the study was approved by the Local Ethics Committee of Universidad Rey Juan Carlos.Results:Three specific themes emerged: (a) coping with patient triage, (b) difficulties in providing end-of-life care, and (c) coping with patient death. Nursing students participated in the process of patient selection for resource allocation and ICU bed occupancy. They were shown how to care for patients who were not admitted to the ICU, in their last moments and were faced with the difficulties of applying end-of-life care. Finally, the nursing students were confronted with the death of their patients, in overwhelming numbers and under adverse conditions.Conclusions:These findings can help shed light on the ethical dilemmas and ethical conflicts faced by novice nursing students, incorporated into the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, it was described that students may normalize the death due to the exhaustion and overwhelmed routine. (shrink)

Las actividades de fomento de la cultura científica se han convertido en una práctica habitual de las instituciones de investigación, que destinan presupuesto y recursos humanos a este objetivo. Cada vez más personal científico y técnico incorpora esta misión a sus tradicionales tareas de investigación y formación. Sin embargo, mientras la investigación y la docencia cuentan con indicadores establecidos, las actividades de divulgación siguen estando consideradas como un ejercicio extraordinario, pocas veces reconocido institucionalmente. En este sentido, el uso de unos (...) indicadores de cultura científica contribuiría a favorecer un cambio de mentalidad y a la obtención de datos objetivos sobre los que orientar las acciones de comunicación social de la ciencia. En este contexto, el Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), a través de su Vicepresidencia Adjunta de Cultura Científica, se ha propuesto analizar las actividades desarrolladas en esta línea, entre 2011 y 2019, en relación a los siguientes indicadores: 1) la inversión económica; 2) el personal dedicado a cultura científica; 3) el número y tipo de actividades; y 4) el público al que se llega. Entre las principales conclusiones, destaca que el CSIC cuenta con una masa crítica más o menos estable de unas 200 personas que se dedican a tareas de cultura científica. Cada año se realizan alrededor de 15.000 actividades (presenciales y no presenciales) en las que se implican alrededor de 3.000 trabajadoras y trabajadores del CSIC. Cada año participan cerca de un millón y medio de personas de manera presencial. (shrink)

En este trabajo se analizan las aportaciones de las críticas feministas para el debate actual sobre el papel de los valores no epistémicos en la ciencia. La revitalización de la discusión sobre los valores y la responsabilidad social de la ciencia en las últimas décadas responde a preocupaciones como la crisis de la replicabilidad, la creciente comercialización o el papel de la ciencia para la política. En todas ellas la influencia de valores de carácter no epistémico aparece como problemática. La (...) crítica feminista, no obstante, proporciona ejemplos del funcionamiento de los valores políticos como recursos para una crítica constructiva que, acompañada de reflexividad y capacidad de autocorrección por parte de las comunidades implicadas, puede promover los propios objetivos epistémicos de la ciencia. Utilizaré dos ejemplos bien conocidos, la primatología y la neurociencia cognitiva, para discutir la interacción de lo epistémico y lo no epistémico en las críticas feministas. Los casos analizados servirán también para explorar la propia interacción de valores en la recepción de las críticas y para introducir la discusión sobre el denominado “nuevo problema de la demarcación”. (shrink)

La igualdad de género es para la UNESCO una prioridad mundial estrechamente ligada a los esfuerzos de la Organización para promocionar el derecho a la educación de las niñas para que adquieran las mismas competencias en la educación y mediante ella.Existen, dependiendo del contexto (niveles de enseñanza e instrucción) y de la ubicación geográfica, grandes desigualdades de género en el acceso, el logro del aprendizaje y la continuación de la educación, resultando ser las niñas, en general, las más desfavorecidas. A (...) pesar de los logros alcanzados, existe un mayor número de niñas sin escolarizar que de niños - 16 millones de niñas nunca irá a la escuela (Instituto de Estadística de la UNESCO) - y las mujeres representan dos tercios de los 750 millones de adultos que carecen de conocimientos básicos de lectura y escritura. (shrink)

Recensión de A. Gutmann, La educación democrática. Una teoría política de la educación, Paidós, Barcelona, 2001 y B. Brick, En defensa de la política, Tusquets, Barcelona, 2001.

Le présent volume rassemble les conférences prononcées dans le IIe Séminaire International de l’AEIHM (Asociación Española de Investigación de Historia de las Mujeres). Tenu en 2005, le séminaire précédent avait été centré sur l’œuvre de la théoricienne américaine Joan Scott. Celui-ci – qui a eu lieu en 2007 – a suivi le même questionnement sur l’inscription internationale des courants épistémologiques féministes en Espagne mais il a abordé l’influence particulière des théoriciennes française...

Partiendo de una reflexión sobre los distintos modos de nombrar el seguimiento de Cristo y de algunas de las principales formas en que se ha concretado en el Ife del cristiano a lo largo de la historia (martirio, vida monástica, vida contemplativa, vida activa, etc.), llegamos a las Sociedades de Vida Apostólica, como un camino original y genuino, cuya primera manfestación se encuentra en el Oratorio de San Felipe Neri. En las dos notas siguientes (pp. 579-602 y 603-618) se hace (...) una breve descripción histórica sobre este peculiar santo, señalando, al mismo tiempo, los rasgos más distintivos de su espiritualidad y de su obra. (shrink)

Las primeras teorías sociológicas son deudoras de las filosofías ilustradas de la historia, las cuales aparecieron para proporcionar un marco de sentido a la acción moral, una vez que la teoría moral renunció a los compromisos metafísicos de la filosofía moral premoderna. Al tiempo que defendió la autonomía de la sociología frente a la filosofía, Durkheim le prescribió a aquélla una tarea específica: realizar una ciencia moral que atendiendo a dos rasgos con los que los hechos morales se muestra a (...) la conciencia —solidaridad y coerción— pueda dar cuenta del sentido moral de la división del trabajo, hasta entonces considerado un proceso casi natural. El propósito de este artículo es mostrar cómo el enfoque durkheimiano permite descubrir una semejanza estructural entre el análisis sociológico y la tradicional perspectiva filosófico-moral de las obligaciones mutuas. (shrink)

La creciente literatura aparecida en los últimos años sobre innovación ha producido multitud de definiciones y clasificaciones de la misma en las que se reflejan disciplinas y tradiciones de origen, así como compromisos teóricos y prácticos. Distinguir entre innovación de productos o innovación de procesos, o diferenciar de acuerdo con el grado de novedad de los resultados de la innovación (o la “intensidad” innovadora) son algunas de estas estrategias taxonómicas. Aunque los enfoques más clásicos sobre innovación han obviado sistemáticamente los (...) aspectos sociales de la misma, recientemente ha aparecido una nueva categoría, la “innovación social”, etiqueta que engloba clases muy distintas de prácticas. En esta contribución analizaremos los distintos sentidos en los que se entiende la “innovación social” y defenderemos que una innovación apropiada ha de ser siempre una forma de innovación social. (shrink)

Una de las principales causas de que el visón europeo, Mustela lutreola, esté en peligro de extinción es la industria peletera. Por un lado, durante los siglos XIX y XX, la caza por su piel causó un grave declive en la especie. Por otro lado, a partir de la década de 1920, la peletería fue substituyendo la caza por la cría en cautividad, y Europa se llenó de granjas de visón americano, Neovison vison; los ejemplares fugados de ellas están colonizando (...) el continente y se han convertido en una amenaza para el visón europeo. Actualmente, algunos países comienzan a prohibir estas granjas, que en cambio aumentan en España. El objetivo de este artículo es analizar este caso concreto como un ejemplo de que nuestros gustos estéticos pueden resultar dañinos e incluso letales para otras especies y la naturaleza en general. (shrink)

The first sociological theories are indebted to Enlightenment philosophy of history, which first appeared to provide a framework of meaning for moral action once moral theory had renounced the metaphysical commitments of early modern moral philosophy. While defending the autonomy of sociology from philosophy, Durkheim prescribed a specific task for sociological thought, namely: develop a moral science which, by keeping together the two features with which moral facts appear before conscience —solidarity and coercion— could account for the moral sense of (...) the division of labour, a phenomenon previously considered almost a natural process. The purpose of this article is to show how Durkheim’s approach makes room for us to establish a structural similarity between sociological analysis and the perspective of mutual obligations characteristic of the moral philosophical tradition. (shrink)

This paper focuses on the third chapter of Fides et ratio, entitled Intellego ut credam This sentence is usually connected with the preambula fidei, truths which are supposed to prepare human mind to receive the gift of faith. But in this case, Pope John Paul II develops this sentence in a different, more existential way according to which the real preambula fidei are not so much a set of truths as the real man who seeks the truth with his entire (...) life. This interpretation remarks the practical dimmension of the relationship between man and truth. (shrink)

This book brings together a number of contributions dealing with certain fundamental structures of practical rationality, as they are presented in the areas of the philosophy of action and normative ethics, namely: intentionality, normativity, and reflexivity. With the term “intentionality,” is meant a set of problems that are linked not only with the teleological structure of praxis-oriented rationality, but also with its temporal structure. “Normativity”, in turn, refers to a distinct set of problems, which cannot simply be reduced to those (...) entailed in the intentional nature of human action, even if this notion incorporates a reference to the good or value in its very structure. Finally, with the term “reflexivity” we point at the linkage between the normative dimension of reason with both the contingent circumstances of action and the moral receptivity of the agent, as it is experienced in moral judgment. (shrink)

Además del concepto explícito de cultura como perfeccionamiento de la naturaleza, que podemos reconocer en muchos lugares del corpus kantiano, la entera empresa crítica puede considerarse cultura en un sentido más profundo: cultura como proyección de una subjetividad que busca en la naturaleza los indicios del destino racional y moral del hombre. Según esto, la filosofía kantiana puede verse como una filosofía de la cultura, posible, en última instancia, por la reflexividad de la razón, que advierte sus propios intereses, y (...) configura el mundo conforme a ellos. (shrink)

This article explores one aspect of Kant's crucial contribution to the philosophy of culture. It does so by analysing two different approaches to the notion of culture, which are explicit in his work. The first, which may be called "genetical", presents culture almost as a result of a natural dialectic. The second, which I call "practical", regards culture as a task for the human being.

Investigaciones recientes sobre la Ilustración escocesa han dirigido nuestra atención a la conexión entre filosofía moral y el surgimiento de las ciencias sociales en este periodo. Como testigos privilegiados del proceso de modernización, los filósofos escoceses desarrollaron un enfoque original de los problemas morales, planteando, entre tanto, cuestiones de orden epistemológico que son cruciales para entender el posterior desarrollo de la sociología. En la base de esas cuestiones epistemológicas se encuentra la referencia a la razón práctica que da título de (...) este volumen. (shrink)

In the light of the variety of approaches to the study of emotions, the purpose of this paper is twofold: on the one hand, to draw attention to the cultural assumptions of experimental approaches to emotion, and, on the other, to show the relevance of resorting to philosophical tradition in order to conceptually clarify the difference between cognitive and non-cognitive approaches to emotions, as well as the constitutive elements of a cognitive approach to emotion, which I describe as «practicallycognitive» in (...) order to differentiate it from the rationalist one, which was criticized by James. (shrink)

Polo's anthropology differs both from aristotelian and modern anthropology in his concept of person. In this paper, I explore the ethical relevance of this concept and its conection with the concept of "human nature", which Polo assumes making a distinction between "essence" and "type". This distinction is important in order to focus the ethical aspect of the relationship between nature and culture correctly.

Se explora la justificación que ofrece Hume del gobierno en dos momentos, y, a partir de ahí, los argumentos con los que pretende salvar la posibilidad de la resistencia civil sin afirmar tajantemente un derecho a la resistencia. Para ello pone en juego su distinción entre obligación natural —u obligación de interés—y obligación moral —-avalada por el sentimiento. Al hilo de esta distinción puede señalarse un criterio para distinguir normalidad y excepción, y, eventualmente, el tipo de situación que podría respaldar (...) acciones de resistencia civil. (shrink)

A través del concepto de razón comunicativa, Habermas logra brindar dos aportes importantes, el primero es la posibilidad de superar la filosofía del sujeto utilizando el giro lingüístico y el discurso argumentativo como campo de construcción de la intersubjetividad, intentando así anular las prácticas de dominación de una perspectiva filosófica metafísica; el segundo es entender la razón comunicativa, más allá de la dimensión del lenguaje, como una pragmática social de la cual se derive el contenido normativo de la modernidad por (...) el uso de un discurso orientado al entendimiento. (shrink)

In the following pages, our specific aim is to show how Hume’s analysis of justice provides the occasion for the gradual display of some key elements of a psychosocial action theory, which lay the foundations for later social thinking. -/- RESUMEN: En lo que sigue, nuestro objetivo específico es mostrar cómo el análisis que realiza Hume de la justicia proporciona la ocasión para introducir de manera gradual elementos clave para el desarrollo de una teoría psico-social de la acción, presupuesta en (...) buena parte del pensamiento social posterior. (shrink)