Session 10. Lluis Vives Space The socio-economic roots of a growing discomfort/The role of the company

At the beginning of the financial debacle of 2007, many of us believed that it would help us to explore the reason behind the disaster. But that was not the case, just as it is not the case with regard to the pandemic and so many other warning signs that we still have not dealt with. We insist on applying technical solutions to economic problems that, while necessary, are not sufficient; and in pointing to populist political movements as if they were the origin of the problem, when they are just one of the manifestations of such.

In order to redirect the deep-rooted social malaise, which is reflected directly by the debacle in traditional politics, we have to explore its most profound reasons: the collapse of a model of society that welcomed people and directed them towards the future. We have neglected the lessons of history and not taken into consideration the inalterable nature of the human condition: the need for putting down roots and receiving recognition.

To help us explore these matters, we have two speakers renowned for their capacity for going beyond what is obvious. Sophie Baby is a historian that has centred most of her intellectual career on understanding the forces leading to social conflict and its outbreak. Antón Costas is known for incorporating into the strictly speaking economic analysis the lessons of history and knowledge of personal psychology.

This registration gives access to the following presentations:

18:30h. The socio-economic roots of a growing discomfort

• Sophie Baby, historian, professor of Contemporary History at the University of Burgundy and junior member of the French University Institute
• Antón Costas, economist, professor of Economic Policy at the University of Barcelona and president of the Economic and Social Counci
• Jordi Alberich, economist, contents director of the Dénia Festival of the Humanities

19:30h. The role of the company

The disruptive moment that society is experiencing due to the constant and relentless algorithmic, technological and cultural acceleration of all its functional spheres, such as the economy and politics, calls for a profound reflection on the role that business must play in this new context and its responsibility in the emergence of a fairer and happier world. The emerging phenomena produced by digital transformation, such as algorithmization, datafication, digital hyperconnectivity and mass surveillance, are widening the inequality gap, constricting spaces of freedom and participation, producing new social pathologies, increasing levels of uncertainty, disaffection and distrust, and normalizing technological despotism and algorithmic tyranny, among many other things. The enterprise, which is also affected by the digital transformation, has an irreplaceable role in reducing the negative impacts and enhancing the positive ones produced by such phenomena both on itself and on society. However, the business model inherited from the 20th century is beginning to be seen as insufficient to respond to this new context. 

What is the role and meaning of the company in this hyperdigitalized world was the starting point of the reflection carried out by experts from the business, political and academic world during the last session of the Lluis Vives Space on "Humanities and Business". This round table on "The role of the company" will present and discuss the main ideas that emerged from the meeting of experts through Jordi Mercader, president of Miquel y Costas & Miquel, Maite Antón, president of the Family Business Association of Alicante and Patrici Calvo, professor of Ethics at the Universitat Jaume I.

• Jordi Mercader, chairman of Miquel y Costas &Miquel, and Chairman of the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí
• Maite Antón, president of the Alicante Family Business Association
• Patrici Calvo, professor in the Department of Philosophy and Sociology at Universitat Jaume, author of The Cordial Economy. Ethics, Recognition and Reciprocity