https://blogs.ubc.ca/lebillon/files/2015/01/ecowar.pdf

The political ecology of war: natural resources and armed conflicts

The challenge for corporate social responsibility (CSR) in developing countries is framed by a vision that was distilled in 2000 into the Millennium Development Goals—'a world with less poverty, hunger and disease, greater survival prospects for mothers and their infants, better educated children, equal opportunities for women, and a healthier environment' (UN, 2006: 3). Unfortunately, these global aspirations remain far from being met in many developing countries today. The question addressed by this chapter, therefore, is: What is the role of business in tackling the critical issues of human development and environmental sustainability in developing countries? To begin with, it is worth clarifying my use of the terms developing countries and CSR. There is an extensive historical and generally highly critical debate in 474 csr in global context the development literature about the classification of countries as developed and less developed or developing. Without reviving that debate here, suffice to say that I use developing countries because it is still a popular term used to collectively describe nations that have relatively lower per capita incomes and are relatively less industrialized. This is consistent with the United Nations Developments Program's (2006) cate-gorization in its summary statistics on human development and is best represented by the World Bank's classification of lower and middle income countries. 1 It should be noted, however, that the UNDP's classification of high, medium and low development countries produces a slightly different picture than the World Bank's list of which countries are developed and developing. CSR is an equally contested concept (Moon, 2002b). However, for the purposes of this chapter, I use CSR in developing countries to represent 'the formal and informal ways in which business makes a contribution to improving the governance, social, ethical, labour and environmental conditions of the developing countries in which they operate, while remaining sensitive to prevailing religious, historical and cultural contexts' (Visser et al., 2007). The rationale for focusing on CSR in developing countries as distinct from CSR in the developed world is fourfold: 1. developing countries represent the most rapidly expanding economies, and hence the most lucrative growth markets for business (IMF, 2006); 2. developing countries are where the social and environmental crises are usually most acutely felt in the world (WRI, 2005; UNDP, 2006); 3. developing countries are where globalization, economic growth, investment, and business activity are likely to have the most dramatic social and environmental impacts (both positive and …

Corporate Social Responsibility in Developing Countries

Given the rising interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) globally, its local expressions are as varied as they are increasingly visible in both developed and developing countries. This paper presents a multilevel review of the literature on CSR in developing countries and highlights the key differentiators and nuanced CSR-related considerations that qualify it as a distinctive field of study. This review entails a content analysis of 452 articles spanning two-and-a-half decades (1990–2015). Based on this comprehensive review, the authors identify the key differentiating attributes of the literature on CSR in developing countries in relation to depictions of how CSR is conceived or ‘CSR Thinking’ and depictions of how CSR is practiced and implemented or ‘CSR Doing’. The authors synthesize from there five key themes that capture the main aspects of variation in this literature, namely: (1) complex institutional antecedents within the national business system (NBS); (2) complex macro-level antecedents outside the NBS; (3) the salience of multiple actors involved in formal and informal governance; (4) hybridized and other nuanced forms of CSR expressions; and (5) varied scope of developmental and detrimental CSR consequences. The paper concludes by accentuating how the nuanced forms of CSR in the developing world are invariably contextualized and locally shaped by multi-level factors and actors embedded within wider formal and informal governance systems.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Developing Countries as an Emerging Field of Study

Rapid deforestation and fragmentation of Chilean Temperate Forests

During the last three decades, the arena of biodiversity conservation has largely aligned itself with the globally dominant political ideology of neoliberalism and associated governmentalities. Schemes such as payments for ecological services are promoted to reach the multiple ‘wins’ so desired: improved biodiversity conservation, economic development, (international) cooperation and poverty alleviation, amongst others. While critical scholarship with respect to understanding the linkages between neoliberalism, capitalism and the environment has a long tradition, a synthesized critique of neoliberal conservation - the ideology (and related practices) that the salvation of nature requires capitalist expansion - remains lacking. This paper aims to provide such a critique. We commence with the assertion that there has been a conflation between ‘economics’ and neoliberal ideology in conservation thinking and implementation. As a result, we argue, it becomes easier to distinguish the main problems that neoliberal win-win models pose for biodiversity conservation. These are framed around three points: the stimulation of contradictions; appropriation and misrepresentation and the disciplining of dissent. Inspired by Bruno Latour’s recent ‘compositionist manifesto’, the conclusion outlines some ideas for moving beyond critique.

/pdf/towards-a-synthesized-critique-of-neoliberal-biodiversity-6dzsqxg3vt.pdf

Towards a Synthesized Critique of Neoliberal Biodiversity Conservation

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has a powerful potential to make positive contributions to addressing the needs of disadvantaged communities in developing countries On the other hand, there are ways in which CSR could, whether by mistake or design, damage the same communities, politically, socially and economically This paper presents evidence that demonstrates that although there is a good business case for Shell to contribute to poverty alleviation in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, there is also a danger that in the long term Shell could effectively be leading the pace of, and directing the paths to, socio-economic development in the region with little or no contribution from the Nigerian government The paper concludes that lack of national macro-economic planning and management, backed by equitable resource allocation, and an enabling environment, have significant implications for the overall performance of CSR initiatives by multinational corporations (MNCs) in developing countries In other words, if the macro-economy is under-performing due to government failure, there is a likelihood that the contributions of MNCs to poverty alleviation could fail to achieve the desired outcomes Good governance in all its dimensions is therefore an important component of the CSR agenda Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Multinationals and corporate social responsibility in developing countries: a case study of Nigeria

The adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and corporate–community relation (CCR) strategies by oil companies has failed to reduce the incidence of violent conflict between the host communities and oil companies in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. This paper argues that the failure to seek, understand and integrate community perceptions into CSR policies and practices, the over-emphasis of affirmative duties to the detriment of negative injunction duties and the absence of an enabling environment due to government failure are responsible for the observed problem. The paper concludes that unless these gaps are addressed, CSR by the Nigerian oil industry is likely to continue to fail to achieve its full potential. However, CCR in the Nigerian oil industry will be significantly improved if, and when, the needs and aspirations of the major stakeholders are addressed through a tri-sector partnership approach to development and conflict resolution. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Corporate–community relations in Nigeria's oil industry: challenges and imperatives

Sustainable development and poverty are pervasive problems in the Niger Delta, mainly due to lack of significant Nigerian government commitment to the development of the region. As a corporate citizen, Shell has contributed in various ways to local community development in the area. Based on a critical analysis of the changes in its strategies and policies, the paper contends that Shell's previous approaches to community development in the Niger Delta encouraged unsustainable development and a culture of dependency. It concludes that the recently launched sustainable community development strategy has the potential to succeed where others failed, if it is implemented within a tri-sector partnership framework involving Shell, the Nigerian government and civil society. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Changing times and strategies: Shell's contribution to sustainable community development in the Niger Delta, Nigeria

National Parks have become the most widely-used category of protected areas in developing countries, including sub-Saharan Africa. Several studies have shown that local-community support for National Parks is based mainly on perceptions of benefits and costs against the background of social, cultural, political and economic considerations. This paper examines the experience in the Cross River National Park (CRNP) in southeast Nigeria using data collected through rapid rural appraisal techniques, household questionnaire surveys, focus group discussions and guided interviews. The results show that in spite of a high level of community awareness of the need to conserve the forests of the study area, there is a low level of local support for the CRNP forest conservation initiative. Four main factors are identified as the main influences on the support extended to the project, namely: reality and expectations of socio-economic development, the pace of project implementation, the relationship between park staff and communities, and the historical rights of local people to the forest of the study area. The implications of the findings relate to the long-term sustainability of the CRNP as a protected forest area.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0376892900039217

Community perceptions of the Cross River National Park, Nigeria

The conflict in the Niger Delta region in Nigeria has lasted for more than a decade, with little or no attempt at an analytical explanation. As a result, the situation has made effective conflict resolution difficult, and perpetuated the confusion of fiction over fact. This paper sets out to correct the shortcomings in existing literature by proffering an integrated explanation of various factors responsible for the conflict. The paper concludes that political and economic factors are the root causes of conflict in the Niger Delta, with environmental and social factors as the proximate and trigger causes, respectively. Given the nature of the relationship among the myriad factors responsible for the conflict, what is required is a comprehensive approach to conflict resolution that pursues development in the Niger Delta on the basis and principles of social, economic and environmental sustainability.

Uwem E. Ite

Papers

Multinationals and corporate social responsibility in developing countries: a case study of Nigeria

Corporate–community relations in Nigeria's oil industry: challenges and imperatives

Changing times and strategies: Shell's contribution to sustainable community development in the Niger Delta, Nigeria

Community perceptions of the Cross River National Park, Nigeria

Demystifying the Niger Delta conflict: Towards an integrated explanation