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European SPES Institute

The European SPES Forum was established in by Luk Bouckaert and Laszlo Zsolnai 2004 In Leuven, Belgium. It was transformed into the European SPES Institute in 2014. See: http://eurospes.org/

The aim of the European SPES Institute is to make spirituality accessible as a public good to as many people as possible. Or, to phrase it differently: to open up spirituality as a vital source in social and economic life. This aim is expressed in the key word of SPES, being on the one hand an acronym for ‘SPirituality in Economic and Social life’ and, on the other hand, the Latin word for Hope, the virtue that sustains our belief in a better future. Spirituality is deliberately defined in broad and pluralistic terms so that the European SPES Institute brings together people from different spiritual backgrounds and traditions: Christians, Buddhists, spiritual freethinkers, Jews, Muslims. Our working definition is: Spirituality is the multiform search for a transcendent or deep meaning of life that connects people to each other and brings them in touch with God or ‘Ultimate Reality’. Within this definition there is room for differing views, for spiritualities with and without God and for an ethics of dialogue or ‘active pluralism’.

Respect and Economic Democracy

    Luk Bouckaert & Pasquale Arena (eds.) Respect and Economic Democracy. Garant, Antwerp/Appeldom, 2010. (This book may be available at: European SPES Forum) Respect and Economic Democracy is based on the hypothesis that democracy will become a growing ingredient of good business and leadership. Many contributions of this sixth European SPES Cahier disclosing new practices of democratic entrepreneurship confirm this hypothesis. The authors assume that economic democracy implies a commitment rooted in respect and explore the spiritual, ethical and… Read More »Respect and Economic Democracy

    Heroes and Anti-heroes: European Literature and the Ethics of Leadership

      Rita Ghesquiere & Knut Ims (eds.) Heroes and Anti-heroes. European Literature and the Ethics of Leadership.. Garant, Antwerp & Apeldoom, 2010. (This book may be available at: European SPES Forum) The authors share the idea that narratives offer their readers an alternative fictional world. In doing this they hold up a mirror that confronts the reader with otherness that questions his self-evident norms and values but also his daily practices. Both heroes and antiheroes contribute to this process… Read More »Heroes and Anti-heroes: European Literature and the Ethics of Leadership

      Leadership, Spirituality and the Common Good. East and West Approaches

        Henri-Claude de Bettignies & Mike Thompson (eds.) Leadership, Spirituality and the Common Good. East and West Approaches. Garant, Antwerpen/Apeldoorn, 2009. (This book may be available at: European SPES Forum) The authors of the book believe that the European and Asian traditions of spirituality provide rich resources for world seeking to rediscover the Common Good. The particular focus of this Cahier is on the need for responsible leaders who understand and accept their responsibility to steward the resources in… Read More »Leadership, Spirituality and the Common Good. East and West Approaches

        Imagine Europe. The Search for European Identity and Spirituality

          Luk Bouckaert & Johanan Eynikel (eds.) Imagine Europe. The Search for European Identity and Spirituality. Garant, Antwerpen/Apeldoorn, 2009. (This book may be available at: European SPES Forum) Authors of the book share the idea of Europe as a space of unity-in-diversity based on relations of reciprocity and fraternity. They see it as Europe’s mission to enlarge its post-war idea of peace and integration into a global action. Even though the European Union started in the sphere of economics,… Read More »Imagine Europe. The Search for European Identity and Spirituality

          Business, Globalization and the Common Good

            Henri-Claude de Bettignies and François Lépineux (ed.) Business, Globalization and the Common Good. Peter Lang, Oxford, Bern, Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt am Main, New York, Wien, 2009. (This book may be available at: Amazon) Globalization and information technology are driving the world into a new era. Is it the responsibility of business to pursue the common good – and more precisely, to participate in the construction of the global common good? This book brings together contributions from various disciplines,… Read More »Business, Globalization and the Common Good

            Frugality: Rebalancing Material and Spiritual Values in Economic Life

              Bouckaert, Luk, Opdebeeck, Hendrik & Zsolnai, Laszlo (Eds.): Frugality: Rebalancing Material and Spiritual Values in Economic Life . Peter Lang Publishing, Oxford, Bern, Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt am Main, New York, Wien, 2008. (This book may be available at Amazon)   The book examines frugality as an ideal and an ‘art de vivre’ which implies a low level of material consumption and a simple lifestyle, to open the mind for spiritual goods as inner freedom, social… Read More »Frugality: Rebalancing Material and Spiritual Values in Economic Life

              Europe-Asia Dialogue on Business Spirituality

                Laszlo Zsolnai (Ed.): Europe-Asia Dialogue on Business Spirituality. Garant, Antwerpen-Apeldoom, 2008. (This book may be available at European SPES Forum) Values, purposes and functions of European and Asian businesses is a topic of vital importance today. The book contains selected papers of the “Europe-Asia Dialogue on Business, Ethics & Spirituality” annual conference of the European SPES Forum held in 2006 in Budapest, Hungary. Scholars and practitioners from England, Norway, Sweden, and Hungary as well as… Read More »Europe-Asia Dialogue on Business Spirituality

                Spirituality as a Public Good

                  Luk Bouckaert & Laszlo Zsolnai (Eds.): Spirituality as a Public Good. Garant, Antwerpen-Apeldoom, 2007. (This book may be available at European SPES Forum) The ongoing process of globalisation, deconstructing our familiar social identities and institutional settings, makes it necessary to find new and deeper sources of self-orientation and moral imagination. Formal rational ethics does not suffice. Ethics needs spirituality as a driver to find its inner purpose and meaning. Selected papers from the foundational meeting… Read More »Spirituality as a Public Good