Bettina Hollstein gives a working paper on 'Why do we criticize corruption and under which circumstances does criticism help?'

Corruption research often inquires into the motivations of corrupt actors and into the circumstances and institutional settings that promote corruption in order to find out how we can prevent corruption.

In my contribution, I want to reverse the perspective and to analyze what motivates the critique of corruption and what the circumstances and institutional settings are that help to make critique of corruption effective. I start with the assumption that the critique of social phenomena which are embedded in a society for a long time, and normalized by habitualization, is quite improbable. Therefore, I look at the elements and actors which are relevant to raising the awareness of corrupt practices. How can we explain the development of new interpretations of certain practices as corrupt and no longer as “normal”? Which situations and dynamics are relevant for institutional changes that change also the normal/regular interpretation of socially accepted norms? Why does whistleblowing become more and more accepted in specific contexts, while it is seen as a case of lack of loyalty in others?

Bettina Hollstein presents a working paper on 'Pragmatist ethics of economics in light of corruption in NGOs, as for example in academic research'

Based on the systematic considerations for a pragmatic ethics of society and economics in my habilitation thesis ('Understanding voluntary work') my new project is to develop elements of a pragmatic ethics of economics. For this end, there will be an emphasis on action theory and emotions, embodiment, creativity, routines, situations, patterns of interpretation and collective narrations. These considerations are to be developed on the basis of specific cases of ethics in economy where corruption is a key element, as corruption has become a topic of attention in the public over the last twenty years. In my paper I will focus on corruption in the non-profit-sector, especially in the sector of academic research.

Bettina Hollstein on 'Pragmatic business ethics - the case of corruption'

Here the abstract of her workshop paper:

Based on the systematic considerations for a pragmatic social and economic ethics in her habilitation thesis ("Understanding voluntary work") her new project is to develop elements of a pragmatic business ethics. For this end, there will be an emphasis on action theory and emotions, embodiment, creativity, routines, situations, patterns of interpretation and collective narrations. These considerations are to be developed on the basis of specific cases of business ethics where corruption is a key element, as corruption has become a topic of attention in the public over the last twenty years.