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."

1. Economics for
People & Planet

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

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