In light of the burden carried by those who do not have a voice in the world,
Sister Amata Miller currently teaches Economics at St. Catherine College in Minnesota. She is a well known lecturer on
economic issues and brings a deep understanding of Catholic Social Teaching to her presentations.
THROUGH THE LENS OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING
I. CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING
• The worldview
o Perspective
o Lens
o Analogical imagination – “both/and”
• The vision – of God’s intent, “God’s dream” for the world
o All of creation is sacred.
o Every human person has inalienable dignity.
o Solidarity is the moral response to our interdependence.
o Inherent in life are both rights and responsibilities.
o We are called to co-responsibility for the common good.
o The basic needs of the poor and vulnerable have priority over other good things.
o Material things have universal not only private purpose.
o All work has dignity, rooted in the dignity of the worker.
o Subsidiarity should be the rule in social order.
o Social justice means working for structural change.
o Action for justice is a constituent element of discipleship.
II.GLOBALIZATION AS EXPERIENCED NOW
• Some definitions
• Spectrum of views
• Planned by world leaders 50 years ago
o Motivated by desire to prevent WW III
o Marshall Plan
o International institutions
o “Free trade” a key goal
• Biased toward the rights of capital
o Ignores labor standards, environment, consumers
o Shaped by neoclassical economic ideology
o Cultural ethos of individualism, materialism
o Anti-government political climate
Shifts of power involved
o Corporations
o Labor
o Governments
o Finance Capital
• How one sees the effects depends
o On one’s time horizon
o On where one stands
• From Michigan we see the ill-effects all too clearly
o Gross inequalities between gainers and losers
o Unequal patterns of economic growth in jobs
o Lack of accountability to the common good
o Inadequate support for those losing jobs
o Dramatic migrations of people seeking work
o Environmental degradation of many kinds
o Loss of economic base of communities
o Insecurities for persons and families
o Inadequate social institutions
• From some other parts of the world gains are evident
o Dramatic economic growth in China and India
o Mobile phones linking people otherwise isolated
o Computer technology providing new jobs, opportunities
o Transportation made easier
o Tourism a source of new employment and income
o Educational opportunities multiplied
o New health care and medicines available
o Remittances from workers abroad enhance local life
o Entrepreneurial opportunities opening up
o Abysmal poverty a thing of the past for many
o Growth of middle-classes
• From other parts of the world oppressive conditions deepen
o Sources of livelihood destroyed because of “free trade”
o Foods, previously home-grown, have to be imported
o Privatization raises prices of basic services
o Debt payments divert resources from human needs
o Migrations of workers fragment communities
o Environments are poisoned, degraded
o Basic health care, medicines unavailable
o Corrupt governments take the gains
o Wars destroy lives and livelihoods
• Some gain and some lose, the data reveals
o The World Commission on Fair Globalization
o The Millennium Development Goals
o The insights of some world leaders
o The actions of some philanthropists
o The thinking of some economists
o The innovativeness of some entrepreneurs
o The campaigns of some entertainers
o The courage of some activists
o The exhortations of some religious leaders
III. SO WHAT TO DO?
• Our faith tells us to
o combine HOPE and REALISM
o keep the VISION alive
o collaborate for the common good
o act for justice wherever we are
• The voices of those at the “restless margins” say
o “Another World Is Possible”
o We are making our voices heard
o We need global collaboration
Fair trade not “free trade”
Debt relief for the poorest
Aid tied to trade and debt relief
Help to help ourselves
Peace not war
• Those in USA whose jobs are gone know
o We need
Adequate assistance to retrain, to develop
Access to capital to rebuild our economic base
Debt relief options
Community development partners
Safety nets for the poor and most vulnerable
o We can collaborate – public, private, local, global
• To overcome the challenges and realize the potential takes
o A NEW INTENTIONALITY – born of faith-vision
o Collaboration within and across our own spheres of influence
o Understandings of
the relationships between the global and the local
what is, tied into a social analysis of the situation - asking
who gains and who loses
where is the power and where did it come from
what institutions, groups, relationships can we work with to make things better
o HOPE AS WELL AS REALISM
- a VISION OF WHAT OUGHT TO BE – the “dream of God” - “rooted uptopianism”
- a theological reflection on the principles at stake
- action planning based on faith and knowledge
- an unshakeable HOPE –
in God’s surprises among us
in the assistance of the Holy Spirit
“Behold I make all things new – can you not see it??”
GLOBAL ECONOMIC ISSUES and CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING
Some Suggested Resources - Amata Miller, IHM - June, 2007
Birdsall, Nancy, John Williamson, Brian Deese. Delivering on Debt Relief: From IMF Gold to New Aid Architecture.
Washington, DC: Center for Global Development, Institute for International Economics, 2002.
Cavanah, John, Jerry Mander (eds). Alternatives to Economic Globalization: A Better World Is Possible. A Report of
theInternational Forum on Globalization. Econd Edition/Updated and Expanded. San Francisco: Berrett Koehler, 2004.
Coleman, John A., William F. Ryan (eds).. Globalization and Catholic Social Thought: Present Crisis, Future Hope. Maryknoll, NY:
Orbus Press, 2005
DeBerri, Edward P., James E. Hug. Catholic Social Teaching; Our Best Kept Secret. Fourth Revised and Expanded
Edition. Maryknoll NY: Orbis Press, 2003.
Elliott, Kimberly Ann. Delivering on Doha:Farm Trade and the Poor. Washington, D.C.: Center for Global Development, Institute
for International Economics, 2006.
Folbre, Nancy. “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Feminist Thoughts on Globalization,” Dollars and Sense: The
Magazine of Economic Justice (January/February 2002), 29-31,44.
Greider, William. One World, Ready or Not. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1997.
International Forum on Globalization. Alternatives to Economic Globalization: Another World Is Possible
2d edition. San Francisco.CA: Berrett-Koehler,
International Jesuit Network for Development. Debt and Trade: Time to Make the Connections. Washington, DC:
Center of Concern, 2005
Kammer, Fred SJ. Doing Faithjustice: An Introduction to Catholic Social Thought. Revised edition.
New York; Paulist Press, 2004.
Korten, David. When Corporations Rule the World, 2d edition. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2001.
The Post-Corporate World: Life After Capitalism. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 1999.
The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2006
Mander, Jerry and Edward Goldsmith (eds). The Case Against the Global Economy and For a Turn Toward the Local.San
Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1996.
O’Brien, David J. and Thomas A. Shannon (eds). Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary Heritage.
Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Press, 1992
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Washington, DC: USCCB Publishing, 2005.
Pralahad, C.K. The Fortune At the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton
Publishing Company, 2005.
Rodrik, Dani. “Trading in Illusions,” Foreign Policy (March/April 2001), 54-62.
Sachs, Jeffrey. An End to Poverty: Economic Possibilities For Our Time. New York: Penguin Press, 2005.
Stiglitz, Joseph, Andrew Charloton. Fair Trade For All: How Trade Can Promote Development. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2005.
Making Globalization Work. New York: W.W. Norton 2006.
Weisbrot, Mark, Dean Baker, Egor Kraev and Judy Chen. “The Scorecard on Globalization 1980-2000: Twenty Years
of Diminished Progress,” Briefing Paper. Center for Economic and Policy Research (www.cepr.net), 2000.
Wijsen, Frans, Peter Henriot, Rodrigo Mejia (eds.) The Pastoral Circle Revisited: A Critical Quest for Truth
and Transformation. Washington, DC: Center of Concern, 2005.
World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization. A Fair Globalization: Creating opportunities for all. Final Report of
the Commission established by the International Labor Organization, February, 2004. (www.ilo.org/public/english/wcsdg)
PERIODICALS (looking at the world from the people’s perspective)
FILMS
Excellent series of 27 films on the Millennium Development Goals. Life Series 4: The Millennium Series.
Bullfrog Films. <www.bullfrogfilms.com> VHS and DVD format, keyed to the 8 MDGs.
Black Gold. Documentary by British brothers Marc and Nick Francis on the complex impacts and dynamics of the coffee trade,
showing impact on individuals and the international trade and culture. California Newsreel will release the DVD in late 2007.
Review in Yes! (Spring, 2007) says “It is through the patient accretion of detail that the grotesque imbalance of the coffee trade,
as well as the possibility for change comes home.”
This is what Yahweh asks of you: Only this, to act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your God. - Mich 7:8
Sister Amata Miller currently teaches Economics at St. Catherine College in Minnesota. She is a well known lecturer on
economic issues and brings a deep understanding of Catholic Social Teaching to her presentations.
THROUGH THE LENS OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING
I. CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING
• The worldview
o Perspective
o Lens
o Analogical imagination – “both/and”
• The vision – of God’s intent, “God’s dream” for the world
o All of creation is sacred.
o Every human person has inalienable dignity.
o Solidarity is the moral response to our interdependence.
o Inherent in life are both rights and responsibilities.
o We are called to co-responsibility for the common good.
o The basic needs of the poor and vulnerable have priority over other good things.
o Material things have universal not only private purpose.
o All work has dignity, rooted in the dignity of the worker.
o Subsidiarity should be the rule in social order.
o Social justice means working for structural change.
o Action for justice is a constituent element of discipleship.
II.GLOBALIZATION AS EXPERIENCED NOW
• Some definitions
• Spectrum of views
• Planned by world leaders 50 years ago
o Motivated by desire to prevent WW III
o Marshall Plan
o International institutions
o “Free trade” a key goal
• Biased toward the rights of capital
o Ignores labor standards, environment, consumers
o Shaped by neoclassical economic ideology
o Cultural ethos of individualism, materialism
o Anti-government political climate
Shifts of power involved
o Corporations
o Labor
o Governments
o Finance Capital
• How one sees the effects depends
o On one’s time horizon
o On where one stands
• From Michigan we see the ill-effects all too clearly
o Gross inequalities between gainers and losers
o Unequal patterns of economic growth in jobs
o Lack of accountability to the common good
o Inadequate support for those losing jobs
o Dramatic migrations of people seeking work
o Environmental degradation of many kinds
o Loss of economic base of communities
o Insecurities for persons and families
o Inadequate social institutions
• From some other parts of the world gains are evident
o Dramatic economic growth in China and India
o Mobile phones linking people otherwise isolated
o Computer technology providing new jobs, opportunities
o Transportation made easier
o Tourism a source of new employment and income
o Educational opportunities multiplied
o New health care and medicines available
o Remittances from workers abroad enhance local life
o Entrepreneurial opportunities opening up
o Abysmal poverty a thing of the past for many
o Growth of middle-classes
• From other parts of the world oppressive conditions deepen
o Sources of livelihood destroyed because of “free trade”
o Foods, previously home-grown, have to be imported
o Privatization raises prices of basic services
o Debt payments divert resources from human needs
o Migrations of workers fragment communities
o Environments are poisoned, degraded
o Basic health care, medicines unavailable
o Corrupt governments take the gains
o Wars destroy lives and livelihoods
• Some gain and some lose, the data reveals
o The World Commission on Fair Globalization
o The Millennium Development Goals
o The insights of some world leaders
o The actions of some philanthropists
o The thinking of some economists
o The innovativeness of some entrepreneurs
o The campaigns of some entertainers
o The courage of some activists
o The exhortations of some religious leaders
III. SO WHAT TO DO?
• Our faith tells us to
o combine HOPE and REALISM
o keep the VISION alive
o collaborate for the common good
o act for justice wherever we are
• The voices of those at the “restless margins” say
o “Another World Is Possible”
o We are making our voices heard
o We need global collaboration
Fair trade not “free trade”
Debt relief for the poorest
Aid tied to trade and debt relief
Help to help ourselves
Peace not war
• Those in USA whose jobs are gone know
o We need
Adequate assistance to retrain, to develop
Access to capital to rebuild our economic base
Debt relief options
Community development partners
Safety nets for the poor and most vulnerable
o We can collaborate – public, private, local, global
• To overcome the challenges and realize the potential takes
o A NEW INTENTIONALITY – born of faith-vision
o Collaboration within and across our own spheres of influence
o Understandings of
the relationships between the global and the local
what is, tied into a social analysis of the situation - asking
who gains and who loses
where is the power and where did it come from
what institutions, groups, relationships can we work with to make things better
o HOPE AS WELL AS REALISM
- a VISION OF WHAT OUGHT TO BE – the “dream of God” - “rooted uptopianism”
- a theological reflection on the principles at stake
- action planning based on faith and knowledge
- an unshakeable HOPE –
in God’s surprises among us
in the assistance of the Holy Spirit
“Behold I make all things new – can you not see it??”
GLOBAL ECONOMIC ISSUES and CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING
Some Suggested Resources - Amata Miller, IHM - June, 2007
Birdsall, Nancy, John Williamson, Brian Deese. Delivering on Debt Relief: From IMF Gold to New Aid Architecture.
Washington, DC: Center for Global Development, Institute for International Economics, 2002.
Cavanah, John, Jerry Mander (eds). Alternatives to Economic Globalization: A Better World Is Possible. A Report of
theInternational Forum on Globalization. Econd Edition/Updated and Expanded. San Francisco: Berrett Koehler, 2004.
Coleman, John A., William F. Ryan (eds).. Globalization and Catholic Social Thought: Present Crisis, Future Hope. Maryknoll, NY:
Orbus Press, 2005
DeBerri, Edward P., James E. Hug. Catholic Social Teaching; Our Best Kept Secret. Fourth Revised and Expanded
Edition. Maryknoll NY: Orbis Press, 2003.
Elliott, Kimberly Ann. Delivering on Doha:Farm Trade and the Poor. Washington, D.C.: Center for Global Development, Institute
for International Economics, 2006.
Folbre, Nancy. “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Feminist Thoughts on Globalization,” Dollars and Sense: The
Magazine of Economic Justice (January/February 2002), 29-31,44.
Greider, William. One World, Ready or Not. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1997.
International Forum on Globalization. Alternatives to Economic Globalization: Another World Is Possible
2d edition. San Francisco.CA: Berrett-Koehler,
International Jesuit Network for Development. Debt and Trade: Time to Make the Connections. Washington, DC:
Center of Concern, 2005
Kammer, Fred SJ. Doing Faithjustice: An Introduction to Catholic Social Thought. Revised edition.
New York; Paulist Press, 2004.
Korten, David. When Corporations Rule the World, 2d edition. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2001.
The Post-Corporate World: Life After Capitalism. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 1999.
The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2006
Mander, Jerry and Edward Goldsmith (eds). The Case Against the Global Economy and For a Turn Toward the Local.San
Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1996.
O’Brien, David J. and Thomas A. Shannon (eds). Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary Heritage.
Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Press, 1992
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Washington, DC: USCCB Publishing, 2005.
Pralahad, C.K. The Fortune At the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton
Publishing Company, 2005.
Rodrik, Dani. “Trading in Illusions,” Foreign Policy (March/April 2001), 54-62.
Sachs, Jeffrey. An End to Poverty: Economic Possibilities For Our Time. New York: Penguin Press, 2005.
Stiglitz, Joseph, Andrew Charloton. Fair Trade For All: How Trade Can Promote Development. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2005.
Making Globalization Work. New York: W.W. Norton 2006.
Weisbrot, Mark, Dean Baker, Egor Kraev and Judy Chen. “The Scorecard on Globalization 1980-2000: Twenty Years
of Diminished Progress,” Briefing Paper. Center for Economic and Policy Research (www.cepr.net), 2000.
Wijsen, Frans, Peter Henriot, Rodrigo Mejia (eds.) The Pastoral Circle Revisited: A Critical Quest for Truth
and Transformation. Washington, DC: Center of Concern, 2005.
World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization. A Fair Globalization: Creating opportunities for all. Final Report of
the Commission established by the International Labor Organization, February, 2004. (www.ilo.org/public/english/wcsdg)
PERIODICALS (looking at the world from the people’s perspective)
- New Internationalist
- Foreign Policy
- Dollars and Sense: The Magazine of Economic Justice
- Multinational Monitor
- Third World Resurgence
FILMS
Excellent series of 27 films on the Millennium Development Goals. Life Series 4: The Millennium Series.
Bullfrog Films. <www.bullfrogfilms.com> VHS and DVD format, keyed to the 8 MDGs.
Black Gold. Documentary by British brothers Marc and Nick Francis on the complex impacts and dynamics of the coffee trade,
showing impact on individuals and the international trade and culture. California Newsreel will release the DVD in late 2007.
Review in Yes! (Spring, 2007) says “It is through the patient accretion of detail that the grotesque imbalance of the coffee trade,
as well as the possibility for change comes home.”
This is what Yahweh asks of you: Only this, to act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your God. - Mich 7:8
Catholic Caucus presents an economist’s view:
Sister Amata Miller's, IHM, PhD
talk on Globalization - June 11, 2007
A reflection of its impact on the world and on the U.S.
in the light of Catholic social teaching
Sister Amata Miller's, IHM, PhD
talk on Globalization - June 11, 2007
A reflection of its impact on the world and on the U.S.
in the light of Catholic social teaching
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