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The power of mining MNCs: Global governance and social conflict
Book chapter

The power of mining MNCs: Global governance and social conflict

L. Sinclair
MNCs in Global Politics: Pathways of Influence, pp.139-158
Edward Elgar Publishing Limited
2020
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Abstract

Multinational mining corporations pursue their interests through social and political strategies across political scales. This chapter analyses how they have responded to social conflict and challenges to their legitimacy from people affected by mining and civil society actors. Using Rio Tinto’s ex-Kelian gold mine in Indonesia as a case study, I show how issues that began as local concerns ‘jumped scales’ when activists created alliances with national and international NGOs. In response to this and other similar cases, Rio Tinto helped establish a network of international business associations and governance standards which emphasize consultation, sustainability and stakeholder participation. Participatory mechanisms, including corporate social responsibility, community development programs and consultative committees based on international standards attempt to contain and re-localize conflict with affected communities. Together, global self-governance networks and participatory mechanisms reconstitute the legitimacy and power of mining corporations to determine their own regulatory and operating environments.

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