Ethics and Development

So, we've been talking a lot in class about ethics especially concerning development. For instance, we discussed how our motivations for helping with Third World issues can be ethical or unethical and yet have an outcome that could be argued to be ethical because if we did nothing, well this would be better than nothing. To put an example to this vague concept, I turn back to microfinance, as usual.

As I mentioned in class, there are hundreds of billions of dollars that are going for microfinance. Why? Well, for multiple reasons. First, organizations can make a profit, even it is marginal. Second, organizaitons can receive positive PR. Third, many believe that microfinance is doing "good" in the world and should continue to be around.

One might argue that doing microfinance is unethical because the motivation for going into is self-satisfying by receving profit and good PR, but yet would we better off without microfinance? Or would the money be more effective in going into something else other than microfinance?

Another stance to take, which I have chosen to take in my thesis, is that there is so much money going into microfinance, even though there are limitations to the impact microfinance can have on poverty. Why are organizations continue to follow the proposed model of microfinance when there have been proven limitations? The focus on microfinance has inhibited larger structural reform. If microfinance were pursued as a complement to wider reform rather than a substitute, then perhaps microfinance would be more successful. But because of the motivations for doing microfinance, by many, the model may never be able to truly evolve outside the bounds of the encourage microfinance model. Thus, the motivations, that I view as unethical, have produced unethical results: the prevention from long-term, sustainable progress for the poor communities where microfinance has intervened.

This model of looking at the motivations for doing "something" ("just ad bellum") and looking at the means ("just in bellum"), and the results ("just post bellum") can show us something about what we have been doing or what we have done. Of course, these may not be taken into account when thinking about pursuing an action (As Will has pointed out), yet when these actions are being pushed as ethically moral or as having a positive impact, we need to keep these actions in check. Ethics may be one way to do so, but not the only way.