The rise of global corporate social responsibility. Mining and the spread of global norms / Рост глобальной корпоративной социальной ответственности. Добыча полезных ископаемых и распространение глобальных норм

Over the past two decades, private companies have made increasing efforts at the global level to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the environmental, labor, and human rights realms. This book traces private sector initiatives at the global, or international, level to promote social and environmental standards applicable to the mining sector. In light of the fact that private corporations are not subjects of international environmental and human rights treaties, the numerous voluntary or quasi-voluntary initiatives undertaken by the private sector, alone or together with states and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at the global level, assume a degree of importance in the global push to promote CSR. This book asks how and to what extent emerging global CSR norms (collectively held understandings of appropriate behavior) have an impact on the policies and practices of mining multinationals.

For the past decade or two, mining companies have been struggling to improve the bad reputation they acquired through the environmental devastation and social disruption associated with their operations. The mining industry has left a legacy of polluted water through acid-rock drainage, toxic waste associated with metals processing, airborne pollution associated with smelting processes, and the massive displacement of earth in the case of open-pit mining (Diamond 2005: 441–85; Miranda et al. 2003). Social dislocation associated with mining, brought to the world’s attention by the media and NGOs, has further worked to damage the reputation of the mining industry as a whole. <...>