ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the Jain approach to business, with a focus on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and a case study of the jewellery trade in Jaipur, capital of the northern Indian state of Rajasthan. It looks at the ecological framework in which business operates, including the concept of Alparambhi (requiring minimum harm or damage to the environment) and limits to growth so that economic expansion does not either affect the ecological balance or sever the enterprise from its communal roots and values. Philanthropy or the duty to ‘give back’ is central to Jain business ethics: the businessperson is expected to support charitable endeavours including environmental projects and animal welfare. Philanthropic organisations, in turn, encourage commercial activities as a way of conferring economic independence and improving the quality of life. They also favour expanded educational opportunities, the use of technology and other material improvements (in particular modern housing). Such developments are more likely to improve the relationship between local communities and their environments as poverty is seen as one of the causes of environmental destruction (e.g. soil erosion and felling trees). This approach, rooted in the Jain theory of pluralism, offers a useful perspective from the Global South. It challenges the assumptions of many western greens that nature is a ‘pristine’ and inherently benevolent force, as well as the anti-business bias of some elements of political ecology.
