Gold Mining and CSR: Responsibility to Whom and for What

Abstract

Andrews explores the historical trajectories of gold mining, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and of the process of ‘responsibilization’, which the chapter describes as an act that has resulted in the elevation of corporate knowledge, power, and capital over the social order. The background information provided in this chapter sets the tone for the rest of the book but it also helps to understand the genealogy of CSR, the corporation itself, and the contextual relevance of the activities of both Newmont and Kinross in Ghana. Andrews also discusses the theoretical and methodological persuasions that inform a discursive exploration of CSR, with insight on when and how field research was conducted.