Towards an economy of inclusion

Corporate social responsibility is buzz phrase of our time and indeed of my generation. Fueled by consumer demand (and I'd like to think genuine interest in justice), corporations large and small are applying an ethical lens to their work. I think all of us can think of a dozen examples off the top of our heads (The Body Shop, Shell, MEC, the move toward fair trade/organic coffees at many retailers, and so on).

I don't believe it's entirely altruistic, but it is a gesture and indeed a movement in the right direction. Both Sean and I were struck by a recent video advertisement floating around the Internet for an Argentinian bank. Take a look...



In this advertisement, an older man approaches a woman on the street who is the proprietor of a hairdressing salon. The woman identifies herself as female though is biologically male (i.e., she is a male-to-female transgendered person). The older man has recently learned that she received credit from a bank to open and run her business, and that same bank gave him a loan to buy his car. He states that this fact gave him cause to think about his discriminatory and hateful actions against her all these years. He apologies for this a gives her a beautiful carving. The scene pans to the two saying farewell and the text, "Your life changes when there is a bank disposed to change. You have a life... you have a bank."

This ad strikes me on many different levels. First, it mainstreams a highly stigmatized segment of our society -- those who identify their gender opposite to that of their sex (biological). As someone who is gay, white, upper-middle-class, and a professional, I certainly appreciate that the gains made for those of us who do not identify heterosexual are not equally shared among the spectrum of sexual and gender identities, least of whom are those who identify as transgendered. This ad is poignant in that it challenges the public at large to think about this type of discrimination in our everyday lives.

But I'm also struck by the fact that this is being used to sell... A bank is using inclusivity and its interest in gender- and queer- justice to sell its banking services.

Is this yet another rung on the ladder of capitalism? Or is it an earnest step towards an building an economy of inclusion? What messages does it leave you with? And what can we learn from this as a church and church community?

What do you think? Please click the comments link below and post your opinion.

André