Entering the Cultural Wars: Amoralization, Moralization and the Cultural Consequences - Essay Example

? Entering the Cultural Wars: Amoralization, Moralization and the Cultural Consequences As human civilization has passed through different stages, social norms have also changed through the years. However, the issue of morality as applied to specific human behavior and actions continues to be a subject of debate. Moralizing about a particular incident or action means interpreting and expressing moral judgments about that case. Conversely, amoralizing implies adopting a neutral stand about the issue. That is, to refrain from making moral reflections about an action. Human beings are psychologically tuned to impart a moral judgment to most actions that they undertake or encounter. As human society has progressed, the socially accepted norms have undergone changes too. Practices that were considered immoral in the earlier society have gained acceptance in the modern world. This paper attempts to investigate these concerns regarding the issue of child labor. Steven Pinker argues in his essay “The Moral Instinct” that our moral reflections on people and actions are often guided by age-old belief systems of society. The moral sense of a person is a bit different from his other senses. Morality is a state of the mind which can be turned on and off like a switch. In normal circumstances, under the influence of his usual senses, a man normally judges the agreeability or the prudence of an action. When a person tunes on his “moral sense switch” he is controlled by completely different mindset. Then he is encouraged to judge the righteousness of actions and events. Morality judgments are usually found on universally accepted norms of human behavior. The moral sense is an innate sense of righteousness that people are born with. There is also a universal agreement about the fact that that there should be punitive measures for persons undertaking immoral acts. There have been “culture wars” in society between the liberal people and the conservatives regarding the classification of specific human behavior as moral or immoral. The modern trend is to classify actions as immoral or amoral. Immoral actions are those which are lacking in morality while amoral actions warrant the adoption of a neutral stance in favor of them. For example, smoking which was considered as amoral for a long time is now thought of as an immoral action. On the other hand, “divorce, illegitimacy, use of marijuana etc. are now regarded as amoral actions. It is not possible to pass moral judgments about them without considering each case in the light of its background. (Pinker 1, 2) A child is defined as a person under the age of 18 years. Children are engaged in a number of tasks and activities all around the world. Not all instances can be regarded as child labor. Any work that is detrimental to the physical and mental growth of children and prevents them from enjoying their childhood can be termed as child labor. It adversely affects the dignity of the child and robs him of his potential early in life. However, children also engage in activities like aiding their parents at home, helping in a family business, engaging in summer jobs during school vacation and earning pocket money etc. These actions contribute to the overall development of the children and towards the well-being of their families and help them to hone their skill and expertise. In fact, these constructive activities help children to be become future productive citizens of the society. Therefore, it is very important to distinguish between the kinds of activities that children are engaged in. (International Labour Office, 16) Child labour has been a common phenomenon of the developing economies of the world. In 1990, the International Labor Office (ILO) estimated that there were 78 million children under the age of 15 who were engaged in economic activities. According to estimates of the UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Education Fund), in 1991 there were 80 million children between 10 to 14 years who were engaged in tedious work which was detrimental to their normal development. According to the estimates, the problem of child labor had assumed a huge proportion. As more information was gathered and society became aware of the widespread practice, its natural reaction was to abolish the practice. The world witnessed an increasing number of people who joined the movement to ban child labor. Countries started formulating legislations to discourage children from being employed in potentially dangerous activities. The USA passed the Child Labor Deterrence Act of 1997 (the Harkin’s Bill) which prohibited US citizens from importing commodities that had been produced using the services of children. International Organizations and Human Right Groups have taken measures to encourage consumers to purchase those goods which do not involve child labor in the manufacturing process. This indirectly discouraged the practice and contributed towards abolishing it.(Grootaert & Patrinos 1) Under a common notion, child labor was viewed as being equivalent to child abuse. In the earlier times, children were forced to work by their selfish parents to earn additional money for the family. In the workplace, dishonest employers took advantage of this situation and extracted work from children in exchange of a paltry payment. However, with increasing awareness in society about child labor, the situation for children has improved over the years. The legislation of the ILO and the different countries have contributed towards creating a mass movement against the practice. However, many social experts feel that prohibitory legislation alone cannot abolish child labor; a conscious global movement will be required for the purpose. Inspite of this, the contribution of the ILO laws cannot be disregarded in this context. (Basu & Van 412) ILO Conventions have formulated international standards regarding child labor. Though there have been changes in child labor practices and the attitude of society towards working children, these practices have been continuing from the seventeenth century right through to the present times. The ILO Conventions are aimed at reducing the practice of child labor and ultimately eliminating them. These help to distinguish between acceptable activities for children and those activities that ought to be eliminated. Earlier, engaging a child for labor was universally thought to be an immoral activity. However, with the passage of time, society has come to distinguish between the different kinds of actions that children are engaged in. For example, during term time children may work a maximum of 12 hours per week and during school holidays children may work a maximum of 35 hours per week. Nowadays many people believe, children working in a good environment can grow and gain confidence which would prepare them for their future jobs. However, there are instances of activities that potentially dangerous for children. For example, young children are engaged in making explosives in India which are burnt at the time of certain festivals like Diwali. In such worst cases of child labor, laws such as those formulated by the ILO are necessary to put an end to such practices. (International Labour Office, 17; Rahikainen 5; Bekele 3) The future of child labor remains under obscurity. It is an encouraging fact, that the International Labour Office is working towards effectively abolishing child labor and has formulated laws prohibiting the worst forms of the practice. (The ILO is concerned about abolishing those forms of child labor which cause permanent physical and psychological damage to children and even pose a threat to their lives). However, experts feel that the results will take some time to bear fruit. The immoral practices of child labour have to be gradually diminished and then eradicated altogether. The incidence of the harmful forms of child labor is relatively high in developing countries like Bangladesh, India etc. In the autumn of 1994, UNICEF conducted a workshop among 50 managers in Bangladesh regarding the future of children in Dhaka (the capital of the country). The results of the workshop revealed that most of the managers could not imagine child labor being completely eradicated in their city even 20 years hence i.e. by 2014. At most, they could hope for a society with comparatively less child labor. This only goes to show that some societies are extremely dependant on the work performed by children. It obviously does not reflect well on the future of child labour. (Weisbord 31) However, there is still considerable hope regarding the issue. Following its “Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work” the ILO published a Global Report on “A future without child labour”. According to the report, countries across the world had adopted the “eradication of child labour” as their objective during the new millennium. It is not easy to deal with such a complex social issue which has several interrelated causes for its existence. However, the ILO has initiated a global movement against the practice of child labour which includes contributions from workers’, employers’ and government organizations and also participants at the regional, national and international level. The ILO is optimistic that this movement will be strengthened in the coming days which will ultimately result in a new social order without the malpractice of child labour (ILO ix). The purpose of ILO is to prevent the harmful practices of child labor. It has adopted a neutral stance in favor of those activities which are conducive to the development of a child’s character. As has been analyzed earlier, such actions do not present any threat to the well-being of children. In fact, children are encouraged to participate in constructive activities like helping their families and undertaking summer errands. Children take part in such work out of their own personal choice rather than being forced to undertake it. The ILO and the organizations that are waging the global movement against child labour and fully aware of the distinction between the harmful practices and the constructive activities relating to child labour. Works Cited 1. Bekele Assefa. Child Labour: Law and Practice Geneva International Labor Office 1991 2. International Labor Office A Future without Child Labour: global report under the follow up to the ILO International Labour Organization 2002 3. International Labor Office Child Labor: A Textbook for University Students Geneva International Labor Organizations 2004 4. Pinker, Steven, The Moral Instinct New York Times Magazine September 10, 2011 from: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/magazine/13Psychology-t.html 5. Rahikainen Marjatta, Centuries of Child Labor: European Experiences from the Seventeenth to the Twentieth Century, Great Britain MPG Books Ltd. 2004 6. Weisbord Marvin, Janoff Sandra Future Search: An Action Guide to Finding Common Ground in Organizations and Communities USA Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc. 2009 7. Grootaert Christian, Patrinos Harry Anthony The Policy Analysis of Child Labor: A Comparative Study New York Palgrave Macmillan1999 8. Basu Kaushik, Van Pham Hoang The Economics of Child Labor The American Economic Review, October 10, 2011 from: http://www.jstor.org/pss/116842 Read More