Ethical Campaigns and Mission Statement

Since the Environment & Ethics Committee acquired its ethical remit, we've been a bit short of ethical campaigns. Our environmental campaigning at a college, university and national level is going really well, but it's had a monopoly on our time, and there are plenty of ethical campaigns being run in the University that could really benefit from our resources. Before we start thinking about spending more time on ethical campaigns, however, we really need to get two questions sorted: 1) What is an 'ethical' campaign, and 2) What kinds of ethical campaigns are suitable for us to run?

Strictly speaking, an ethical campaign is any campaign that sets out to change things in line with a specific view of what is right and what is wrong, often within the context of a specific issue. There are very few universally held ethical principles, but there are lots that have widespread agreement, such as that human rights should be respected, and that future generations deserve to inhabit a planet with the suitable climate and rich biodiversity that we have enjoyed, within the boundaries of natural change. The reason ethical campaigns can be controversial is that they take a single stance on issues that are often populated by a wide variety of beliefs. If everyone who is part of the campaign agrees with the line that has been taken on the relevant underlying ethical principles, things are ok. Anyone who disagrees can form an opposing group, and the process is open and democratic.

The reason a group like OUSU Environment & Ethics Committee needs to be so careful in choosing its campaigns is that we are more than just the people who come to our meetings. We officially represent several thousands of students, and our fundamental role is to represent the views of those students and to act in their interest. This makes consensus crucial, but sometimes difficult, when we're choosing our campaigns.

We've run a number of environmental campaigns over the last year, many of which have used JCR and MCR motions to acquire a valid mandate because they have controversial elements. There are plenty of environmental campaigns that are just as controversial as 'ethical' campaigns. In fact, to distinguish between the two in this way is pretty arbitrary, as the first falls within the set of the second, and so assumes the same general properties. Much of the science of climate change remains vague, and the action that needs to be taken, in terms of its effect on economic development and lifestyles, is hugely controversial. Nonetheless, we have reached the decision, as a committee and in line with the view of increasing numbers of governments, that action on climate change is necessary despite these controversial side effects. This is an ethical decision, placing one thing at the expense of another in line with an underlying view of what is right.

We need to choose a campaign to work on that is not specifically to do with the effects of our behaviour on the natural environment. In making this choice, we need to bear in mind that an OUSU campaign is meant to represent the views of the students, and is also meant to be relevant to addressing their needs. This doesn't mean we can't pick a traditionally 'controversial' campaign; if we go to our JCRs and find that people are in agreement, we have a mandate to run the campaign. However, it is also important that any campaigns we do run can be directly targetted at the actions of the University, its staff and its students. Our campaigns on climate change address an international issue, but by changing the way the University operates. Likewise, the SRI campaign took the global issue of the arms trade, but dealt with it within the confines of the University's investments and the students' attitudes.

So, to pick a new campaign to work on, I reckon it should 1) have the support of the students, 2) have a strong moral case for action and 3) be relevant to the actions of the University. This would at least be a start, and these are just my views. It'd be really great to have discussion on this, so we can refine our definition of what it is that we do, and then maybe summarise this in a mission statement. Really looking forward to hearing people's views.

Sam