Since writing about Michael Sandel earlier
this month, his new book, “What Money Can’t Buy” has been published. In suggesting that we have become a market
society (instead of just being a market economy), he argues that the ‘market
triumphalism’ that marks politics in western democracies coincides with a ‘moral
vacancy’ in public debate and ideas. In short, we have lost the plot in terms
of having a moral compass by which to make decisions. This is due to money (or the market) distorting the direction of
public life. He warns of what type of society we will become if we allow all
decisions to be made by monetary value and economics rather than relying on
social norms or civic values. However,
he also gives examples where people do
want their society to be governed by what is right rather than what is profitable
– hospitals or schools for example are not viewed by the populace as fulfilling their purpose
if they are primarily for profit. His enquiry questions how economics has been
able to position itself as a value-neutral science, which itself has
contributed to a sense of the infallibility of ‘market logic’.
The concern with the idea that everything
is for sale and that everything has a monetary value comes at the same time as
a new WHO report on the illegal trade in kidneys. An estimated 10,000 black market operations
happen annually in human organs, 75% of which are kidneys. The report shows the
huge profits that can be made, and whilst the illegal trade in human organs was
falling in 2006-7, it is now increasing again. The Treaty of Istanbul was meant
to have put a stop to this illegal trade but there are still people advertising
for donors, such as in China. Poor people can earn up to £2,500 for donating a
kidney, whilst the wealthy can afford the many more thousands of pounds charged
for a transplant. There is a huge unmet demand for kidneys – something that
healthier lifestyles and more upstream interventions might prevent. Where health is bought, someone has to pay!
Some of these trends make it even more imperative
that the movement within health promotion to work with civic associations is
speeding up, so that civic values can predominate and counter the triumph of the market. There is a huge interest at present on how to engage with civil
society for the betterment of public health, and on what makes a ‘good
citizen’. According to Kubow et al (2000:134),
“effective citizenship first requires the internalisation of a set of civic
ethics or values”; the difference between a good person and a good citizen is
due to the latter’s engagement with civic society, contributing in some way to
the public good. It’s virtuous to be
involved in community action, and it transcends self-interest or monetary
reward. This participative citizenship,
according to Kymlicka and Norman (1995:293), holds the “intrinsic value of
political participation for the participants themselves”.
What motivates some people to engage with
others for the public good, whilst others do not, is worthy of investigation.
We were reminded of this during this week as we held an expert symposium as
part of our Peers in Prison Settings Project (see www.leedsmet.ac.uk.pips). Our
research centres on a systematic review to assess the efficacy of peer
approaches in prison, and it raises the question of why some offenders
volunteer to become peers, either as part of Listener schemes, or in other
capacities as mentors and educators. They may be motivated by gaining rewards
and more privileges, but many are motivated simply by a wish to
contribute. As such, we are also
assessing the effect on these volunteers, as they may gain as much as those
they are mentoring or otherwise helping. The project runs for a year, from
February 2012 to February 2013, and should contribute to policy within prison
settings.
Topically, the question of whether
prisoners should have the right to vote, a basic right of any citizen, came into
the news this week. The UK government’s
view is that prisoners have lost their right to vote by virtue of their conviction.
It would seem that an opportunity has been lost here for education on citizenship
within prison.
References:
Kubow, P.,
Grossman, D., & Ninomiya, S (2000) Multidimensional citizenship:
Educational policy for the 21st century, in Cogan, J. & Derricot,
R. (eds.) Citizenship for the 21rt
century: An international perspective on education, Kogan Page, London,
131-150
Kymlicka, W., & Norman, W., (1995) Return
of the Citizen: A survey of recent work on citizenship theory, in Beiner, R. (ed.)
Theorizing Citizenship, State
University of New York Press, Albany, NY, 283-322