Interdependent engagement : corporate social responsibility in Bougainville and Papua

Abstract

This thesis is the result of a journey through nine countries, documenting the lessons of over eighty diverse stakeholders, ranging from multinational resource company executives to local landowners, about how businesses can amend their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices to facilitate peaceful development. Drawing on the cases of Bougainville and Papua, it analyses the effectiveness of dominant mainstream models of CSR pursued by major resource companies to respond to threats to peace that arise from the issues of most concern to locals. A problem that this thesis reveals is that despite a commitment to CSR, Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL), PT Freeport Indonesia (Freeport) and BP (British Petroleum) failed to resolve local grievances related to their business practices in Bougainville and Papua. A framework of 'Interdependent Engagement' is designed in response to these failures. Interdependent Engagement addresses limitations of CSR to resolve the conflict flashpoints associated with the extraction of natural resources. Contrary to common expectations, the voluntary social and environmental initiatives pursued by the extractive industry do not automatically lead to improved conditions for local communities. In some cases, particularly where armed conflict arises, these initiatives may even produce more harm than good. Despite this potential danger, corporations continue to be encouraged to expand the scope of their existing CSR practices to encompass a role in peace building. Guided by a multi-site research design, the thesis connects the motivations, intentions and constraints of corporations operating in zones of conflict with local perspectives and expectations in the CSR context. The data confirm that dominant forms of CSR as used by the case study companies are limited in their capacity to assist resource extraction companies to avoid social conflict. This is due to the fact that CSR has historically tended to focus primarily on the distribution of material benefits, rather than on engagement with the deeper sources of injustice that resource companies often become entangled with. Drawing on the case studies of Bougainville and Papua, eight sites of interdependence between BCL, Freeport and BP and the grievances at the heart of the two conflicts are identified: 1. historical injustice; 2. the denial of customary land rights; 3. regional inequality & contests over resource wealth; 4. cultural, political and economic marginalisation; 5. human rights violations; 6. community disruption; 7. environmental damage, and 8. aspirations to define the future. The thesis finds that there are four important limitations of dominant models of CSR discourse that have constrained its ability to engage with these interdependencies. These are: the emphasis on pledges over institutional change, responsiveness to host states to the exclusion of local communities, failure to incorporate alternative visions of justice into the design of voluntary social and environmental initiatives, and the implementation of one-size-fits-all solutions to complex social and environmental problems. A significant outcome of this thesis is a new method for the design of CSR in areas affected by conflict - Interdependent Engagement. Based on the principles of mutuality, reflexivity, engagement and flexibility, Interdependent Engagement is presented as a model of CSR transformed. -- provided by Candidate. Show more