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This book takes a fresh and interdisciplinary approach to the concept of subsidiarity. While subsidiarity is commonly understood as an organizational principle that assigns competences to the appropriate level within an organization, its application extends beyond politics. This innovative book offers a comprehensive analysis that includes religious and secular perspectives, exploring the relevance of subsidiarity to society, business, law and politics.By bridging the gap between theology, philosophy, political science, law, and history, this volume fills a significant gap in the literature. It reexamines the ideological foundations of subsidiarity within the Catholic social tradition, investigates its practical implications, and questions how it can address the challenges faced by contemporary business environments, particularly issues of social inequity. With a normative and conceptual approach, the book critically reflects on the links between subsidiarity and themes such as responsible business practices, ecological concerns, individual autonomy, and the common good. By exploring the potential of subsidiarity to overcome dichotomies and promote a middle ground between government-based solutions and individual freedom, the volume offers valuable insights and practical solutions.This volume stands out as the first major study dedicated to subsidiarity in society, business, law and politics. Through its multidisciplinary lens, it sheds light on unexplored connections and highlights the role of subsidiarity in fostering ethical and socially responsible behavior. It is an essential resource for researchers, PhD and graduate students, as well as professionals in theology, philosophy, political sciences, law, and history who seek a comprehensive understanding of subsidiarity and its implications for contemporary issues.

El Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo Humano Integral (Cedhin) de la Universidad de La Sabana viene estudiando los desafíos del desarrollo global y la necesidad de un compromiso universal con el futuro del planeta. En este caso, ha reunido expertos en distintas áreas para proponer proyectos sociales, políticos, económicos y culturales, orientados a mejorar el modo de vida de muchas personas. En medio de la pandemia de la covid-19, vimos conveniente aportar ideas para la nueva sociedad que estamos llamados a construir entre todos después de la compleja situación que afrontamos. De ahí la convocatoria a esta reflexión interdisciplinaria, resultado de las investigaciones de los profesores invitados desde diversas áreas geográficas y epistemológicas. Esperamos que este libro, fruto de un trabajo mancomunado como aporte a la regeneración que exige la pandemia de la covid-19, estimule el compromiso generoso y solidario para promover un verdadero desarrollo humano integral.

To mark the 40th anniversary of John Paul II's encyclical on human work, published in 1981, a group of globally-recognized scholars presents the critical aspects of this document and its purpose. These original essays revisit John Paul II's approach to work in post-modern society and reconnect the dignity of the working person to a pursuit of holiness. These authors convey that only when it is truly Christian can humanism accomplish the lofty ideals it indicates. This book is a timely contribution to the field of scholarship that focuses on Catholic Social Thought and is ideally suited for graduate studies and the reader interested in more serious questions in Christian theology. Giulio Maspero,'The Bible and the Fathers of the Church on Work'Patricia Ranft,'Work Theology in the High Middle Ages'Angela Franks,'John Paul II's Metaphysics of Labor'Deborah Savage,'Confronting a Technocratic Future: Women's Work and the Church's Social Vision'Martin Schlag,'Contemplation at Work: A Theological Conversation Between John Paul II and Josemaría Escrivá'Richard Turnbull,'Laborem Exercens: A Protestant Appreciation'Michael Naughton,'Good Work: Insights from the Subjective Dimension of Work'Christopher Michaelson,'Subjects and Objects in Meaningful Work'Javier Ignacio Pinto Garay and Alvaro Pezoa Bissieres,'The Worker and the Transistor: The Dignity of Work and Business Ethics in Global Corporate Practices'Gonzalo Flores-Castro Lingán,'The Real Work: Making the Encyclical Laborem Exercens Operational'Geoffrey C. Friesen,'Laborem Exercens and the Subjective Dimension of Work in Economics and Finance'

The economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the unrest in the US following the unlawful death of George Floyd, and other sources of social unrest and insecurity, have brought to a head something that has been brewing in Western societies since the Great Recession of 2008: the disillusionment with liberal democracy as it evolved after World War II. Liberal political systems were characterized by a working compromise between capital and labor, between liberalism and socialism. This book analyzes how, and to what extent, the rise of populism and “identitarian” political movements, as well as the acceptance of world leaders who embody an authoritarian style of government, has undermined this compromise. Written by scholars from various disciplines, all of which share the Christian faith, it offers a snapshot of an intellectual debate among Christians who are deeply concerned about the world they live in, and who share their constructive proposals for a way forward after “liberalism as we know it.” The contributors address topics such as Christian alternatives to liberalism and populism, challenges to post-liberalism, trans-liberalism, and relational anthropology. Accordingly, the book will appeal to scholars who wish to reflect on the order of our society, and to anyone who shares the view that it is high time to rethink liberalism.

Spirituality and gift are notions that are en vogue. Topics such as spirituality at the workplace, spirituality management, spirituality in leadership, organizational spirituality and other related topics are trending in management literature. The “logic of gift” is also appearing more frequently, especially in attempts to rethink the way our economy works in order to include the marginalized.

Both in religious and in secular culture there is an acute awareness that poverty, destitution, and misery should be eliminated, and that it is possible to achieve this goal. Despite this common aim, strategies for fighting poverty vary widely among the disciplines. This book interprets poverty in the light of Christian faith and ventures beyond the dual public-private model. Pope Francis has called on business leaders around the world to spread a new mindset in business that acknowledges the poor and the marginalized. In doing so, he deplores inequality and injustice. These concepts pose an intellectual challenge to Christian humanism, which the authors, leading scholars on the subject, take up. The book opens with a series of chapters on the economic dimensions of poverty, inequality, and injustice, and turns to the philosophical and theological aspects in its second part. Even though rigorously academic, the ideas in this book are transformative. The social market economy places the human person at the center of the economy, and it offers a model that can be implemented, under this or other names, in many parts of the world.

Handbook of Catholic Social Teaching employs a question and answer format, to better accentuate the response of the Church's message to the questions Catholics have about their social role and what the Church intends to teach about it. Written in consultation with the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, the Handbook should take its place alongside the Catechism of the Social Doctrine of the Church on the shelf of informed Catholics as works that can inform what we believe and do in the public sphere.

The contributors to Free Markets with Sustainability and Solidarity, who represent a unique combination of European and American scholars, present their reflections on evolving forms of economics. All are unified by a holistic, Christian anthropology, from which they draw epistemological consequences for free markets and a free society.