We're all activists now
From recycling to mass protests on social networks like Facebook, having an ethical conscience is becoming part of our daily lives. Now it's the turn of governments and companies to change, writes Andy Miah
- Dr Andy Miah, professor in ethics and emerging technologies, University of the West of Scotland; guardian.co.uk, Friday 20 March 2009 17.33 GMT
Amid all the great changes afoot in the world, a trend is emerging that is as pervasive as it is critical. I call it an "ethical turn", a surge in popular activism, broad democratic demands and institutional reforms that mark a new era of ethical concern in our daily lives.
The furore over bankers' financial arrangements and the need for tighter monetary regulations is just one area where the ethical turn has come to light. Everyone from the rightfully indignant public to ministers and celebrities has joined calls for greater accountability. With luck, we are now on the cusp of truly ethical economic reform.
The ethical turn has emerged as a powerful movement in popular culture. Celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver have attempted to transform society by urging schools to provide nutritious meals, meanwhile teaching the rest of the nation to cook for ourselves. We are encouraged to ditch fast food, TV dinners and pre-chopped, pre-cooked supermarket foods, and to rediscover the joys of cooking.
In doing so, we will regain not only the pleasure of making meals for ourselves, but the social benefits that come with it. We may even find our sense of taste again.
Reality television has now been joined by ethical television. In BBC3's recent show, Kill it, Cook it, Eat it, participants and viewers were asked to re-engage with their inner carnivore by taking part in the slaughter and butchery of animals before feasting. The underlying message is clear: by facing up to the realities of the food we buy and eat, we develop a more finely honed morality towards animals.
Others are taking up the idea. Artist and activist John O'Shea is developing what he calls the "Meat Licence Proposal", which requires people to have killed an animal before they are allowed to eat one. The licence works on a species level. If you've killed a fish, you can eat fish, but if you want to eat beef, you need first to have killed a cow.
The environmental movement is surely the most public arena where the ethical turn has come into play, and here, the sense of public conscience is growing. Today, failing to recycle is stigmatised, but tomorrow, we may feel ashamed of how many flights we take, a shift that would transform our view of the well-travelled citizen.
Dealing with climate change is clearly a pressing obligation, but speaking at the first Natural Economy Northwest Green Lecture recently at the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology in Liverpool, green campaigner Jonathon Porritt emphasised how much more we have to do in the UK to come close to being ethical in this field.
Of course I'm not trying to claim the ethical turn is only at work in Britain. President Obama's emphasis on "mutual responsibility" encompasses the development of science and technology. From stem cell research to internet privacy, there has been a tremendous backlash against moves to limit our freedoms.
In the recent controversy over Facebook's new "terms of service", ethically aware members appealed to the ideology of social media and convinced Facebook to revert to its original policy. It worked this time, but ethical issues will arise again in the world of social media.
Overwhelmingly, the ethical turn seems a force for good, but there are substantial hurdles it is likely to encounter. Undoubtedly, we must take responsibility as individuals for making the world a better place, but too often, governments and companies undermine individual actions by doing too little themselves.
For individuals to have their greatest impact, those in power need to radically rethink how they can make it easier for us. It is neither adequate nor reasonable for us simply to use fewer plastic bags when shopping for groceries. We need to distinguish between what individuals can do, and what governments and companies must enact to allow us to make a difference.
We need to democratise ethics and find a way to put it at the heart of our organisations and daily lives. We need transparency to understand the labels on our food, the privacy settings on our computers, and the difference between fair trade and ethical trade. Above all, we need to cultivate an ethical awareness that can identify bad practice before it becomes catastrophic.
A middle class ethical crisis will do wonders to raise awareness of broader social injustices. It might even help us find the right moral ground for our times, which will be critical when science and technology create fresh ethical dilemmas that cut across society in fundamental ways.
Inevitably, an ethical conscience has already found its way into the branding of multinational corporations. That alone should tell us that a new era of ethical vigilance is upon us. However, if we are not careful, we will empty ethics of its value.
This is why the ethical turn cannot be about ethics for ethicists. It involves recognising the many ways in which an ethical conscience is becoming a part of our daily lives, from what we wear and who made it, to asking fundamental questions about emerging technologies and their implications.
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So tell me - are you enjoying living in 2009? Is it a worthwhile present?
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