Authors Alfonso Fernández Herrería and Francisco Miguel Martinez-Rodriguez, professors of the Faculty of Education at the University of Granada in Spain, published an article titled “Deconstructing the neoliberal ‘‘Entrepreneurial Self’’: A critical perspective derived from a global ‘‘biophilic consciousness”, which references the Earth Charter.The article presents a critique of the concept of an “entrepreneur self”, based on neoliberalism and proposes an alternative reconstruction of the ¨entrepreneur self¨ from a global biophilic consciousness.
This text aims to shed light on the background of neoliberalism and the basic characteristics that underlie its approach to the ‘‘Entrepreneurial Self.’’ The neoliberal economy, and the concept of entrepreneurship which is driven by it, is defined by a range of perspectives which build its epistemology and explain its current development.
The authors consider that it is important to make a critical deconstruction in order to offer an alternative to the neoliberal entrepreneurial self. This alternative involves a new identity. It is reconstructed as a revolutionary, empathic, and global communication technology from the ‘‘Internet of Things’’, and is consistent with a worldview that makes sense of it.
As a result of this review, we propose to reconceive the ‘‘Entrepreneurial Self’’ as a new critical reconstruction of our identity, which empathetically reconnects us with nature, as well as with the whole community of life. This stems from an ethics of care, the value of sharing, and the development of those interdependent networks which constitute our global ‘‘biophilic consciousness.’’ Each of these elements is far removed from the predatory culture of the neoliberal model.
The article references the Earth Charter in several occasions:
• ¨From an economy that makes nature invisible and fosters deep social inequalities to a truly sustainable economy based on the ethics of care (Earth Charter).¨ – pg. 320
• ¨As a declaration of fundamental ethical principles and as a universal code of behavior for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society, the Earth Charter was conceived in line with structuring sustainable development around the ethics of care, justice, and peace.¨ – pg. 321
• ¨The original purpose of the Earth Charter Initiative (2000) was to create a ‘‘soft law’’ document (Rockefeller, 1996) to collect four of the fundamental principles of the new emerging ethics concerning human rights, peace, economic equity, environmental protection, and sustainable living. ‘‘A [. . .] important factor that underpins the Earth Charter’s authority is the fact that it is grounded in established international law’’ (Bernstein, 2007: 6), which does not exempt it from being a ‘‘soft law.’’ It is an ethical call to action, thus becoming a unifying platform for change.¨- pg. 322
The full article can be downloaded in this link (available in English and Spanish).