Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Just Relations and Company–Community Conflict in Mining

  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This research engages with the problem of company–community conflict in mining. The inequitable distributions of risks, impacts, and benefits are key drivers of resource conflicts and are likely to remain at the forefront of mining-related research and advocacy. Procedural and interactional forms of justice therefore lie at the very heart of some of the real and ongoing challenges in mining, including: intractable local-level conflict; emerging global norms and performance standards; and ever-increasing expectations for the industry to translate high-level corporate social responsibility policy into on-the-ground practice. This research focuses on the “process” aspects of resource conflicts through an examination of existing grievance-handling procedures at six mining operations where company–community conflict was present. In their current form, and on their own, the six mechanisms were found to be insufficient in their capacity to advance justice. The authors argue that if the overall objective of global norms is that companies construct and perform grievance handling in ways that strongly preference just practices, then “mechanisms-in-practice” must be better understood and constructively critiqued along all justice dimensions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arnstein, S.: 1969, ‘A Ladder of Citizen Participation’, Journal of the American Institute of Planners 35:216-44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ballard, C. and G. Banks: 2003, ‘Resource Wars: The Anthropology of Mining’, Annual Review of Anthropology 32, pp. 287-313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barton, B.: 2005, ‘A Global/Local Approach to Conflict Resolution in the Resources sector: The Case of the Tintaya Dialogue Table’, Unpublished Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy Thesis (Tufts University, Boston, MA).

  • Bebbington, A. and J. Bury: 2009, ‘Institutional Challenges for Mining and Sustainability in Peru’. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106(41), pp. 297-301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bebbington, A. and L. Hinojosa, D.H. Bebbington, M.L. Burneo, M.L., X. Warnaars: 2008, ‘Contention and Ambiguity: Mining and the Possibilities of Development’, Development and Change 39(6), pp. 887-914.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blowfield: 2004, ‘CSR and Development: Is business appropriating global justice?’ Development (47)3, pp. 61-68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boege, V. and D. M. Franks: in press, ‘Re-Opening and Developing Mines in Post-Conflict Settings: The Challenges of Company-Community Relations’, in P. Lujala and S. A. Rustad (eds.), Strengthening Post-Conflict Peacebuilding through Natural Resource Management, Vol. 1, ‘High-Value Natural Resources and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding'. The Environmental Law Institute, United Nations Environment Programme, University of Tokyo, and Specialist Group on Armed Conflict and the Environment of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Commission on Environmental Law

  • Bridge, G.: 2004, ‘Contested Terrain: Mining and the Environment’, Annual Review of Environmental Resources 29, pp. 205-59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brundtland: 1987, ‘Our Common Future: World Commission on Environment and Development’, United Nations (New York, NY).

    Google Scholar 

  • Calvano, L: 2008, ‘Multinational Corporations and Local Communities: A Critical Analysis of Conflict’, Journal of Business Ethics 82(4), pp. 793–805.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carr, E.R. 2010. ‘The place of stories in development: creating spaces for participation through narrative analysis’. Development in Practice 2(20): 219-226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carter, S: 1999, ‘The Importance of Party Buy-in In Designing Organizational Conflict Management Systems’, Mediation Quarterly 17(1), pp. 61-66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CommDev: 2007, ‘Third Draft: Community Development and Local Conflict Management in the Extractive Sector’, Environmental Resources Management, International Finance Corporation of the World Bank (New York, NY).

    Google Scholar 

  • Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO): 2008, A Guide to Designing and Implementing Grievance Mechanisms for Development Projects (CAO, Washington, DC).

  • Cooke, B. and U. Kothari (eds.): 2001, Participation: The New Tyranny (Zed Books, New York, NY).

    Google Scholar 

  • Cragg, W. and A. Greenbaum: 2002, ‘Reasoning about Responsibilities: Mining Company Managers on What Stakeholders are Owed,’ Journal of Business Ethics 39:319–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dietz, T. and P.C. Stern, R.W. Rycroft: 1989, ‘Definitions of Conflict and the Legitimation of Resources: The Case of Environmental Risk’, Sociological Forum 4(1), pp. 47-70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dipholo, K.: 2002, ‘Trends in Participatory Development’, Journal of Social Development in Africa 17, pp. 59–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Escobar, A.: 2006, ‘Difference and Conflict in the Struggle Over Natural Resources: A political ecology framework.’ Development (39)3, pp. 6-13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franks, D.: 2009, Avoiding Mine-Community Conflict: From Dialogue to Shared Futures. Proceedings of the First International Seminar on Environmental Issues in the Mining Industry, Santiago, Chile.

  • Furlong, G.: 2005, The Conflict Resolution Toolbox (John Wiley & Sons, Ontario).

    Google Scholar 

  • Garvin, T. and T.K. McGee, K.E. Smoyer-Tomic, E.A. Aubynn: 2009, ‘Community-company relations in gold mining in Ghana’, Journal of Environmental Management 90, pp. 571-86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamad, A: 2005, ‘The Reconceptualization of Conflict Management’, Peace, Conflict and Development 7(1),. http://www.peacestudiesjournal.org.uk/dl/July05Hamad.pdf

  • Hamann, R. and P. Kapelus: 2004, ‘Corporate Social Responsibility in Mining in South Africa: Fair Accountability or Just Greenwash?’, Development 47(3), pp. 85-92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Handwerker, W.P.: 2001, Quick Ethnography (Altamira Press, Walnut Creek, CA).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, C.: 2010, ‘Community-company Grievance Resolution: Guide for the Australian Mining Indusry’, Oxfam Australia (Melbourne, Australia).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hilson, G.: 2002, ‘An Overview of Land Use conflicts in Mining Communities’, Land Use Policy 19, pp. 65-73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Humphreys, M. and J.D. Sachs, J.E. Stiglitz (eds.): 2007, Escaping the Resource Curse (Columbia University Press, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Husted, B.W.: 1998, ‘Organizational Justice and the Management of Stakeholder Relations’, Journal of Business Ethics 17(6), pp. 643–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Idemudia, U. and E. Ite: 2006, ‘Corporate-community Relations in Nigeria’s Oil Industry: Challenges and Imperatives’, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 13, pp. 194-206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • International Alert: 2005, Conflict Sensitive Business Practice for Extractive Industries (International Alert, London, England).

  • International Council of Minerals and Metals (ICMM): 2006, Mining and Human Rights: How the UN SRSG can Help Spread Good Practice and Tackle Critical Issues (ICMM, London, England).

  • International Finance Corporation (IFC): 2009, Addressing Grievances from Project Affected Communities (IFC, New York).

  • Jenkins, H.: 2004, ‘Corporate Social Responsibility and the Mining Industry: Conflicts and Constructs’, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management 11, pp. 23-34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kapelus, P.: 2002, ‘Mining, Corporate Social Responsibility and the Community’, Journal of Business Ethics 39(3), pp. 275-96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kemp, D.: 2010, ‘Community Relations in the Global Mining Industry: Exploring the Internal Dimensions of Externally Oriented Work’, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management 17, pp. 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lederach, J.P.: 1995, Preparing for Peace: Conflict Transformation Across Cultures (Syracuse University Press, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lederach, J. P.: 2005, The Moral Imagination (Oxford University Press, New York)

  • Logsdon, J.M. and H.J.V. Buren: 2008, ‘Justice and Large Corporations: What Do Activist Shareholders Want?’, Business and Society 47(4), pp. 523-48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manteaw, B.: 2007, ‘From Tokenism to Social Justice: Rethinking the Bottom Line for Sustainable Community Development’, Community Development Journal 43, pp. 428-443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muradian, R. and J. Martinez-Alier, H. Correa: 2003, ‘International Capital versus Local Population: The Environmental Conflict of the Tambogrande Mining Project, Peru’, Society and Natural Resources 16(9), pp. 775-92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Fairchealleagh, C.: 1998, ‘Resource Development and Inequality in Indigenous Societies’, World Development 26, pp. 381-394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Neill, J.: 1998, The Market: Ethics, Knowledge and Politics (Routledge, London).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Owen, J.: 2009, A History of the Moral Economy: Markets, Custom and the Philosophy of Popular Entitlement (Australian Scholarly Press, Melbourne).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rawls, J.: 1971, A Theory of Justice (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rawls, J.: 1999, A Theory of Justice (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA), [revised edition].

    Google Scholar 

  • Reed, D.: 2002, ‘Resource Extraction Industries in Developing Countries.’ Journal of Business Ethics 39, pp. 199–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rees, C.: 2008, ‘Rights-Compatible Grievance Mechanisms: A Guidance Tool for Companies and Their Stakeholders’, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruggie, J.: 2008, ‘Protect, Respect, Remedy: A Framework for Business and Human Rights’, Human Rights Council of the United Nations, A/HRC/8/5.

  • Ruggie, J.: 2010, ‘Further Steps Toward Operationalization of the ‘Protect, Respect, Remedy’ Framework’, Human Rights Council of the United Nations, A/HRC/14/27.

  • Sen, A.: 2009, The Idea of Justice (The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press Cambridge, MA).

    Google Scholar 

  • Sherman, J.: 2009, ‘Embedding Rights Compatible Grievance Processes for External Stakeholders within Business Culture’, Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School (Cambridge, MA).

    Google Scholar 

  • Szablowski, D.: 2002, ‘Mining, Displacement and the World Bank: A Case Analysis of Compania Minera Antamina’s Operations in Peru’, Journal of Business Ethics 39(3), pp. 247-73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thibaut, J. W. and L. Walker: 1975, Procedural Justice: A Psychological Perspective (Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ).

    Google Scholar 

  • Veiga, M.M. and M. Scoble, M.L. McAllister: 2001, ‘Mining with Communities’, Natural Resources Forum 25(1), pp. 92–202.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walton, G. and J. Barnett: 2008, ‘The Ambiguities of Environmental Degradation and Violence: The Case of the Tolukuma Gold Mine’, Society and Natural Resources 21(1), pp. 1-16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westoby, P. and J. Owen.: 2010, ‘The Sociality and Geometry of Community Development Practice’, Community Development Journal 45(1), pp. 58-74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler, D. and H. Fabig, R. Boele: 2002, ‘Paradoxes and Ethical Dilemmas for Stakeholder Responsive Firms in the Extractive sector - Lessons fFom the Case of Shell and the Ogoni’, Journal of Business Ethics 39(3), pp. 297-318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whiteman, G.: 2009, ‘All My Relations: Understanding Perceptions of Justice and Conflict Between Companies and Indigenous Peoples’, Organization Studies 30(1), pp. 101-20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whiteman, G. and K. Mamen.: 2002, ‘Examining Justice and Conflict Between Mining Companies and Indigenous Peoples: Cerro Colorado and the Ngabe-Bugle in Panama’, Journal of Business and Management 8(3), pp. 293-329.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zandvliet, L.: 2005, ‘Opportunities for Synergy: Conflict Transformation and the Corporate Agenda’, Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management (Berlin, Germany).

    Google Scholar 

  • Zandvliet, L. and M.B. Anderson.: 2009, Getting it Right: Making Corporate-Community Relations Work (Greenleaf Publishing, Sheffield, England).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining, Part of the Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Deanna Kemp, John R. Owen, Nora Gotzmann & Carol J. Bond

  2. School of Social Work and Human Services, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia

    John R. Owen

Authors
  1. Deanna Kemp
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. John R. Owen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nora Gotzmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Carol J. Bond
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Deanna Kemp.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kemp, D., Owen, J.R., Gotzmann, N. et al. Just Relations and Company–Community Conflict in Mining. J Bus Ethics 101, 93–109 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0711-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0711-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation