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Title Development on whose terms?: CSR discourse and social realities in Papua New Guinea's extractive industries sector
ID_Doc 66658
Authors Gilberthorpe, E; Banks, G
Title Development on whose terms?: CSR discourse and social realities in Papua New Guinea's extractive industries sector
Year 2012
Published Resources Policy, 37, 2
DOI 10.1016/j.resourpol.2011.09.005
Abstract The emergence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the extractive industries represents a bid to legitimize the sector after decades of environmental disasters and the trampling of indigenous rights. But whilst the rise in CSR has meant safer technologies and better stakeholder engagement, there is little evidence of any real socio-economic development at the grassroots. This paper examines the uneasy relationship existing between the strategic 'business model' of CSR and the brand of development it delivers. Using evidence from two multinational extractive industries in Papua New Guinea, we show how weaknesses in CSR practice come from greater emphasis on meeting global 'performance standards' than on the specificities of the social contexts in which strategies are implemented. These weaknesses, we argue, lead to ill-conceived and inappropriate development programmes that generate inequality, fragmentation, and social and economic insecurity. We conclude that greater engagement with affected communities will facilitate the development of more mutually beneficial and appropriate CSR strategies. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Author Keywords Corporate social responsibility (CSR); Sustainable development; Resource extraction; Mining; Social organization; Papua New Guinea
Index Keywords Index Keywords
Document Type Other
Open Access Open Access
Source Social Science Citation Index (SSCI)
EID WOS:000304740000009
WoS Category Environmental Studies
Research Area Environmental Sciences & Ecology
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