ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2005

In association with Development Policy and Practice and the International Development Centre at the Open University

Milton Keynes, UK
7th-9th September 2005

Connecting people and places: challenges and opportunities for development

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PARALLEL SESSIONS ABSTRACTS

Session A: September 7th, 14.00-15.30

A TEST OF COMMITMENT: A CRITIQUE OF THE GOVERNMENT’S INTERNATIONAL CSR STRATEGY
Sharon McClenaghan, Senior Policy Officer, Private Sector, Christian Aid

In March 2005 the UK Government published its international strategy on CSR (corporate social responsibility). A key element of this strategy is to encourage best practice in company behaviour by promoting internally agreed standards. To this end the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises form a central plank of the strategy and their consistent promotion has led to the perception that it is the ‘gold standard’ of CSR measures. The emphasis the government has placed on supporting this voluntary measure takes for granted their success in addressing the adverse social and environmental impacts of companies.

As the majority of Foreign direct investment has now moved from state and government aid to direct investment from TNCs the regulation of companies is increasingly urgent. The activities of such companies can now significantly determine the development prospects of many countries. But as yet such private capital has no inherent accountability other than to its share holders.

This paper looks at the Government’s commitment to CSR through its adoption of the guidelines and outlines some of the inherent problems with both their content and implementation. It makes the case that as an instrument of corporate accountability the guidelines fall short of addressing core problems related to corporate activities. It argues that a review of the Guidelines is essential as well as makes the case for stronger regulation to make companies more accountable for the impacts of their activities around the world.

MOTIVATIONS, PRACTICES AND DRIVERS OF CORPORATE PHILANTHROPY IN SOUTHERN THAILAND
Eve Sadler, United Futures Partnership, Groundwork North West
Dr Uwem Ite, Lancaster University

Corporate philanthropy (CP) remains the dominant way that companies relate to their stakeholders, even though the range of community relations (CR) strategies companies can adopt are numerous. Within the context of CR, the benefits of CP have been hotly debated, with proponents citing either the ‘business benefits’ or the ‘moral case’ for businesses to ‘give back’ to their stakeholders. However, it is clear that these arguments and the current forms and manifestations of CP are based entirely on Western business models and strategies as well as their cultural experiences and values. As a result of limited micro-level research on the subject, the role and motivations for CP in developing contexts has often been little understood and valued by mainstream literature on CP. Against this background, the specific goal of this paper is to critically examine the practices of CP in the tourism industry in southern Thailand, with a view to determining the key drivers for CP in the study area.

Based on evidence presented and analysed, this paper argues that CP in southern Thailand is completely distinct from the donations given by Western businesses. Firstly, the concept is operationalised in a distinctly non-Western style as donations to the communities are made by individual business owners rather than through the businesses themselves. Secondly, CP is undertaken exclusively in a reactive manner and done so through social obligation. Thirdly, the key drivers for CP in the study area are based on cultural and individual circumstances, with ‘the business case’ and moral imperatives failing to influence business donations. Fourthly, the Buddhist notion of making merit (thambun) and the Thai social and cultural hierarchies both heavily underpin CP. The paper concludes that the practices of and motivations for CP are dictated entirely by a country’s economic, social, cultural and developmental circumstances. The implications of these findings for current debates on the role of businesses in poverty alleviation in developing countries are highlighted.

NEGOTIATING RIGHTS: INDIGENOUS RIGHTS AND THE POWER LINE CONFLICT IN VENEZUELA
Kathryn Tomlinson, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Sussex

Over the last few decades, increasing numbers of indigenous groups have been claiming ‘indigenous rights’, joining transnational networks and alliances that promote indigenous mobilisation, and demanding recognition of their rights vis-à-vis the state, the international community and transnational entities such as business corporations, the IMF and the World Bank. The rise of the indigenous rights movement has been particularly prevalent in Latin America, where in the face of the increase in threats to their livelihoods and mounting pressure on their lands, particularly from resource and energy development projects (oil and gas, mining, hydroelectricity, logging etc), many indigenous groups have been developing new forms of resistance relying on a language of rights and international action as an effective means to pressurise national governments. In parallel to this, an international indigenous rights jurisprudence has been developing in international institutions such as the United Nations and the International Labour Organisation and multi-state regional bodies such as the Organisation of American States, and states have come under increased pressure to enshrine indigenous rights within national legislation and constitutions.

This paper explores the effects and contradictory ramifications of these developments in relation to a conflict between indigenous and environmental groups, and corporate and state entities, over the building of an electricity power line in southern Venezuela, which took place between 1997 and 2001. The aim in this paper is to examine how actors, groups, and corporate and state entities understood, appropriated, negotiated and implemented international rights standards in this situation, and how the adoption of a language of rights and transnational connections affected the outcome of the conflict. The paper reveals how the realisation of rights in this specific national context was complex and multi-faceted, leading to the breakdown of previously strategic alliances.

Page last updated: 18 August, 2005