How to take responsibility in today's world
What does it mean for the individual, group, and global society?
Looking for a multidisciplinary answer.
I'm happy to share that my article has been published by the Culture Impact Journal. See here for the full read: https://culture-impact.net/how-to-take-responsibility-in-todays-world/
Synopsis
Feeling overwhelmed and guilty in the face of recent and ongoing catastrophes and crises is for individuals in privileged countries on the increase and often coupled with a simultaneous sense of responsibility and powerlessness. This paper delves into the concept of responsibility across various societal levels – the individual, the group, and the global community – and offers some practical strategies for navigating this dilemma.
Moreover, it might serve the intercultural practitioner to shed a multidisciplinary light on a much-strained term.
The individual’s responsibility can be defined by their ethics, which are shaped by a value set defined by culture. While it seems obvious to hold individuals accountable, the extent to which responsibility can be attributed to groups and the global community is a complex matter. Thus, drawing insights from multiple disciplines becomes necessary to grasp the breadth of responsibility’s many possible domains and applications.
The extent to which groups can assume or be assigned responsibility, if at all, is a philosophical and sociological question of interest not only with regards to larger entities like nations but also to teams within organizations. Is their culture pivotal in fostering a sense of responsibility? Can a collective sense of responsibility translate into tangible accountability? Yet, from an intercultural perspective, also the meaning of responsibility varies and will be explored in this article.
On a global level, responsibility must be reflected in line with the purpose of politics which fundamentally differs from the purpose of cross-cultural research.
Ultimately, this article aims to present practical avenues for addressing the perceived dilemma of feeling responsible yet powerless, and to provide tentative answers to the pressing question that resonates with all responsible individuals: What can we do?
Keywords: Responsibility, Ownership, Philosophy, Individual, Ethics, Groups, Teams, Culture, Global, Multi-disciplinary, Politics