In the 21st century, discussions on the environment actively intersect with religious discourse, purposefully incorporating religious texts and spiritual perspectives to propose effective solutions for addressing the pressing global environmental crisis. Within this context, this study employs a narrative analysis approach, conducting fifteen semi-structured interviews with students pursuing undergraduate course in science, aged 18–21 years, representing diverse cultural and religious backgrounds. The primary aim is to understand how traditional values embedded in micro-level activities and rituals, drawn from their culturally and (...) religiously diverse backgrounds, significantly contribute to the formation of distinctive household-based value systems that integrated within education can bring about attitudinal changes by developing sensitivity toward the environment. These narratives offer valuable insights into a nuanced understanding of the crucial role that religious/spiritual teachings can play in shaping robust eco-ethics essential for nurturing a sustainable future. The research underscores the interplay of cultural, religious, and ethical dimensions in shaping individual perspectives and actions toward the environment. (shrink)

The present study was conducted in Quetta district Balochistan province so as to determine the perception of the respondents about causes and consequences of child labor in Balochistan province. The sample size was 100 family units selected by using the simple random sampling. Somehow of the respondents fall in the age categories of 41 to 50 years, followed by 30% of the family units who were in the age categories of 50 and above years. More than half 52% of the (...) respondents were illiterates and the other of the respondents had primary level of education. The result is further expressed that the other 20% of the male respondents were of the view that the retail trade, cycling repairing and carpet business important child labor route respectively. While 20% of the female respondents revealed that they are cycling repairing and carpet business important child labor route respectively at Quetta district. Children are the assets of any nation without their contribution in the developmental process can be null and void, therefore it should be recommended that government must take stern action against the child labor at grass-root level to eliminate the child labor in the community or society. (shrink)

Engaging Polanyi’s embeddedness–disembeddedness framework, this study explored the work experiences of Bhil children employed in Indian Bt cottonseed GPNs. The innovative visual technique of drawings followed by interviews was used. Migrant children, working under debt bondage, underwent greater exploitation and perennial and severe depersonalized bullying, indicative of commodification of labour and disembeddedness. In contrast, children working in their home villages were not under debt bondage and underwent less exploitation and occasional and mild depersonalized bullying, indicative of how civil society organizations, (...) along with the state, attempt to re-embed economic activities in the social context. Polanyi’s double movement was evident. ‘Place’ emerged as the pivotal factor determining children’s experiences. A ‘protective alliance’ of community controls and social power, associated with in-group affiliations and cohesive ties, stemming from a common village and tribal identity, aided children working at home for Bhil farmers. ‘Asymmetric intergroup inequality’ due to pronounced social identity and class differences, coupled with locational constraints and developmental disadvantage, made migrant children vulnerable targets. Social embeddedness influences how child workers are treated because it forces employers to be ethical and not engage in bullying. However, by shifting production to children’s home villages, there is an attempt to obscure the difference between child labour and child work. Thus, the seeds of disembeddedness are sown through the very act of re-embeddeding, potentially hampering future interventions. (shrink)

Religion and work are seldom discussed. The two have caused scholars to question the religion’s role with work. This paper reviews research on the integrate between religion and work by examining issues of concept, definition, measurement, and reviewing research that examines the relationship of work and religion with respect to: different times, types of people, organize human interactions and sources of knowledge. We then discuss the methodological requirement for reintegrating work studies into social institutional theory and indicate what the conceptual (...) payoffs of such integration might be. These payoffs include breaking new conceptual ground, resolving theoretical puzzles and envisioning the nature of new social institutions. (shrink)

In this article, we shift the usual analytical attention of the GPN framework from lead firms to suppliers in the network and from production to IT services. Our focus is on how Indian IT suppliers embed in the Netherlands along the threefold characterization of societal, territorial and network embeddedness. We argue that Indian IT suppliers attempt to display societal embeddedness when they move to The Netherlands. Our findings reveal that the endeavour by Indian IT suppliers to territorially dis-embed from the (...) Dutch context is reinforced by their peripheral position in the network and their ability to offshore work in a bid to contain costs, in addition to the influence of client domination. Therefore, territorial embeddedness is considered to be secondary to societal embeddedness which is intertwined with client interest while neglecting the interest of other network members. Nonetheless, the inter-firm relationship is complex, given the tension between societal, territorial and network embeddedness. While preferring Indian IT suppliers because of their low pricing, Dutch clients also insist on compliance with the institutional context of the Netherlands especially when it comes to Dutch employees. This results in hybridization which means that Indian IT suppliers find ways to adhere to the institutional framework for Dutch nationals while simultaneously insulating Indian employees from the same. Consequently, a highly unfair segmented internal labour market develops, with Dutch nationals being treated more favourably as compared to Indian nationals. Nonetheless, to address these violations, Indian employees prefer individual strategies of resilience and rework rather than a collectivization response. (shrink)

The Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet are a rich source of learning about human psychology and the personality types, patterns and traits. This study attempted to understand whether personality types and patterns can be understood through Islamic knowledge. For this purpose, the study examined the personality traits as laid down in the Qur’an and later disseminated though the hadiths. A qualitative research design was adopted for this study, combining philosophical and phenomenological approaches, where the former captured the (...) religious essence of the personality types, patterns and traits, and the latter revealed their significance from the Islamic perspective. The primary data was collected from religious scriptures, hadiths, and the Qur’anic verses, while the secondary data sources included books, articles and critical commentaries on the hadiths and religious scriptures. The data was analyzed through a theoretical and analytical framework, using classification methods, and focusing on both methodological as well as descriptive aspects of personality types, patterns and traits in the light of the Holy Qur’an. The findings revealed the in-depth presence of advice and wisdom about personality traits in the Holy Qur’an. The study reiterated that the human race is only capable of knowing the true existence of God Almighty owing to its intrinsic human characteristics, and being an integrated entity of mind, body, and soul. The implications of the study leis in its re-establishing the concept of faith through intellectual and practical applications. (shrink)

This entry focuses upon the current state of microlending activity, and particularly for-profit activity, with ethical analysis of such lending, particularly as it pertains to prospects for poverty alleviation and development for the global poor. Several specific events have lately altered the characteristics of microlending and the general assessments of its prospects: most notably the collapse of the for-profit microfinance market in Andhra Pradesh late in 2010 and research previously pursued within the same state of India that would greatly reduce (...) our estimation of the promise of microcredit for poverty alleviation. This brief piece of writing indicates, but can hardly serve to argue fully, two conclusions. First, that current views of microlending, for better or worse, will tend to promote economic exclusion of the poorest. Second, because the advantages and disadvantages of microlending for poverty alleviation and for women's empowerment have a great deal to do with the specific circumstances of lending, unpromising results found in some circumstances may be taken with a grain of salt. (Pre-review draft July 2016, for Robert W. Kolb, ed. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society: 2nd edition. Sage Publications. 2017. Corrected copies may be obtained from the author following publication, March 2017.). (shrink)