Mine-community conflict resolution and justice: a case study of South Africa's platinum belt

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

As the extractive frontier expands into more socially and environmentally sensitive areas, mine-community conflict is on the rise. Examining a key case study in South Africa, this study willinvestigate the impact that relations between the state, mining companies and communities aswell as intra-community relations have on the likelihood of the just resolution of mine-communityconflict.Context and rationaleThe past few decades have seen sustained extractive sector expansion in developing countries. Extractiveoperations have a "contentious and ambiguous" (Bebbington et al., 2008) developmental record, and oftenbring considerable strife, generating widespread social conflict at sites of extraction (Bebbington et al., ibid).3The International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) found that the number of mine-community disputesrose eightfold between 2002-2013 (ICMM, 2015).To address this tension and manage socio-political risk, many mining companies have adopted corporate socialresponsibility (CSR) strategies (Bebbington, 2018; Bebbington et al., 2008; Calvano, 2007; Frederiksen, 2018;Kemp, 2011); many of which align to international standards advanced by organisations like the InternationalFinance Corporation (IFC), the ICMM and the United Nations (UN). These standards advise firms to employparticipatory and "collaborative processes" (UN, ibid:32). Although a step in the right direction, these vague,normative statements fail to recognise that mine communities are not homogenous entities existing in a politicalvacuum.Communities consist of diverse groups with diverse interests and motivations (Agrawal & Gibson, 1999). Whenit comes to resisting or accepting mining activity, internal divisions arise, notably between those moredependent on land to sustain livelihoods and those who might benefit from the mine through jobs orprocurement contracts (Conde & Le Billon, 2017). Relationships between the state and the multinationalmultinational mining companies furthermore shape how mine-community conflicts can be addressed.Extractive ventures are "long, risky, costly, and very capital-intensive" (Cameron & Stanley, 2017:59), and stateshoping to attract foreign investment to realise the value of their mineral deposits need to provide investorsextensive legal, contractual and fiscal stability (ibid; Bebbington et al., 2008; Frederiksen & Himley, 2020:58).This can render states unwilling or unable to "mediate between investors and community interests" (Szablowski,2007:45).On South Africa's platinum belt, mining operations are situated in a sprawling host-communities with a historyof intra-community contestation. It is a region rife with company-community conflict: The eastern limb of SouthAfrica's Platinum Belt has seen over 400 incidents of social unrest between 2016-2018 (Stoddard, 2018).Persistence community uprisings indicate that perceived injustices prevail.What justice means in the context of company-community conflict resolution has attracted research interest(Hamann & Kapelus, 2004; Kemp et al., 2011; Leonard, 2020; Whiteman, 2009). The effect of power on justicehas been a common theme in peace and conflict literature, but this approach has been largely missing in CSRtheory (Kemp et al. 2011:98). Whiteman (ibid) focuses on three forms of justice: distributive, procedural andinteractional. In this context, distributive justice refers to the "ends achieved" (Kemp et al. ibid:97) of a conflictresolution process, and the perceived fairness of such ends; procedural justice refers to the formal processesthrough which decisions are made; and interactional justice describes the informal, day-to-day interactionsbetween company and community representatives (Whiteman, ibid).