This slideshow looks at the efficacy of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) agreements and two brief case studies in Bolivia and Ecuador. It also considers what a "new story" of humanity on Earth could look like, offering a historically supported alternative to the "tragedy of the commons."
2. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Corporate social responsibility: a form of corporate self-
regulation that encourages the company to make a positive
impact on the environment and stakeholders (consumers,
employees, investors, communities, and others)
Businesses engage in CSRs for two reasons:
1. Strategic purposes
2. Ethical purposes
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3. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
In Latin America, CSR is seen as a realistic way for extraction
corporations (oil, gas and mining operations) to address the
needs of indigenous and local communities
There, CSRs promote sharing extraction’s economic
benefits: employment, royalties, supplier contracts
CSR managers in Latin America struggle with:
communities that fear losing their traditional way of life
being seen as an enemy who exploits local communities
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4. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
High rates of crime and corruption and limited government
regulation have made the public wary of extractive
industries
Socially responsible corporations argue it is their obligation
to pay particular attention to*:
human rights and the needs of communities
social liabilities
understanding the social and environmental context
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5. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Latin America’s socially responsible corporations recognize
the need for a fundamental shift—operating from the
outside in instead of the inside out*:
including local communities in corporate governance
giving local communities a stake in ownership
defining and assessing social performance
This “will depend on real partnerships between
corporations and local communities” (Klein, 2013)
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7. Relying on the Earth Jurisprudence legislation in their
constitution, community groups have enjoyed some
victories*, but have had difficulty implementing EJ further:
“the domestic economy depends on the very
environmentally-damaging activities they would like to
target” (Tanasescu, 2017, Entitled to “integral respect”
section, para. 7)
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CSR in Ecuador
8. With a more ambiguous commitment to nature’s rights in
their constitution, Bolivia focused on the global biosphere
while opening the land to extraction (Gudynas, 2013)*.
Using indigenous support and Pachamama ideals to get
elected, President Morales’ eventually took this position:
“I thank the Mother Earth, the Pachamama, and ask her
that the oil continues to appear” (Sivak, 2008, p.124)**
CSR in Bolivia
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9. The New Economics Foundation has been working with
others to shift our economic system to a model where the
focus is on fairly maximizing human wellbeing without
destroying the environment
The neo-liberals created a simple story that spoke to
people’s concerns: individual freedom, free enterprise and
limited government.
Economics for People and Planet
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10. Rather than providing a new story1, many civil society
organizations have tended to focus on what is wrong with
this one
They also tended to argue over details rather than
collaborating on the big picture2
Because many issues stem from the flawed economic
system, Wallis’ argues that campaign leaders from across civil
society3 should unite under a broad umbrella
Economics for People and Planet
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11. The success of a new economic model, Wallis (2014)
argues, relies on its emulating the successes of the
Keynesian and neo-liberal models that precede it*:
1. discredit the existing, dominant economic narrative
2. create a new narrative (how the economy should work)
3. weaken power bases that reinforce the current system
4. create power bases to support this new narrative
Politicians are only going to respond if there is a strong
new power base pushing an exciting new story (Wallis)
Economics for People and Planet
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12. The New Economics Foundation’s shortlist of principles
includes:
1. strengthening natural systems (instead of merely
sustaining them)
2. investing in the long term
3. developing strong non-market economies
4. democratizing ownership and economic governance
They produced a report that outlines two new stories*
Economics for People and Planet
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13. George Monbiot argues that the economy has four sectors:
1. State
2. Market
3. Household
4. Commons
He discusses a new narrative: restoring the commons
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Economics for People and Planet
Strategic purposes: increase long-term profits and shareholder trust through positive public relations and high ethical standards* to reduce business and legal risk by taking responsibility for corporate actions.
Ethical purposes: some businesses will adopt CSR policies and practices because of senior management’s ethical beliefs
communities that see commercial ventures as a threat to traditional ways of life and oppose their plans for development and extraction
communities being seen as the victim while corporations are viewed as the enemy, a portrayal the media might take up as well
* documenting how they will approach respecting human rights
assessing the needs of communities
paying off social liabilities
increasing their understanding of the social and environmental context in the areas they operate in.
ensuring that representatives from local communities are included in corporate governance (on the board of directors and at an executive level)
structuring co-ownership of extraction projects to provide local communities with a real stake in business performance and social outcomes
helping community stakeholders to define and assess social performance.
Paul Klein is the president and founder of Impakt. He was included in the Toronto Globe and Mail's 2011 Leading Thinkers Series and serves on the advisory council of the centre of excellence in responsible business at the Schulich School of Business.
What is extractivism? Well here’s one way it’s done in nearby Bolivia…
Extractivism: “the process of extracting natural resources from the Earth to sell on the world market” (Wikipedia, 2017)
Neo-Extractivism: policies of some Latin American governments elected in part for their explicit rejection of neoliberal policies (privatization, monetary orthodoxy, even extractivism) but who rely heavily on resource extraction to fund social reforms (IGI Global, 2017)
* A victory protecting the Vilcabamba River: In Wheeler v. The Director de la Procuraduria General Del Estado de Loja, the court ruled “that flooding caused by dumping road works debris into the Vilcabamba River violated rights of nature and it ordered the removal of the debris to restore the right of the river to flow” (Daly, 2012, p. 64).”
Complicating things further, “other articles of the constitution… defend the right of individuals and collectives to benefit from natural resources and their surroundings (art.75).” (Villalba-Eguiluz & Etxano, 2017, p.6)
* Gudynas, E. (2013). Development Alternatives in Bolivia: The Impulse, the Resistance, and the Restoration. NACLA Report on the Americas,46(1), 22-26.
** Sivak, 2008, as cited in Humphreys, D. (2017). Rights of Pachamama: The emergence of an earth jurisprudence in the Americas. Journal of International Relations and Development, 20, 459–484.
There is a video on the homepage: “Over the past 40 years the rules that shape our economy have been rewritten to work for corporate elites. Together we can change them to protect the planet and make the economy work for everyone.” Video: https://youtu.be/PMRiUhCvMaE
Many civil society organizations tend to focus on what is wrong with the current system rather than providing a new story that shows us how we can flourish while respecting planetary ecological limits.
and building the infrastructure to support a powerful movement for change
people from major non-profits, trade unions and environmental, social justice and faith groups
* A long-term policy change relies on four key strategies:
the discrediting of the existing dominant narrative and theory about how the economy works
the creation and championing of a new narrative and theory about how the economy should work
the weakening of power bases that reinforce the current system
the creation and growth of new power bases that drive a new narrative and theory.
* The report is focused on: “What is the story of the economy in Britain? Who gets to shape public opinion about what it’s for, how it’s broken and how it can be fixed?”
1. THE POPULIST STORY: RESISTING CORPORATE POWER: Over the last forty years, our government has become a tool of corporations and banks, prioritising the interests of the wealthy
rather than giving equal weight to the needs of everyone. We need to reprogramme our economy so that it works in the interests of society rather than just in the interest of corporate elites.
2. THE COMMON GROUND STORY: MEETING OUR NEEDS: A good society makes it possible for everyone to lead a meaningful and fulfilling life. Yet, our society is currently focused solely on profit,
and people are forced to chase money rather than happiness. The laws and policies that we make lay down tracks that determine where the economy takes people. Right now, our economy is built around
profit rather than being built to get people to their true needs.