Interdependent engagement : corporate social responsibility in Bougainville and Papua

This thesis is the result of a journey through nine countries, documenting the lessons of over eighty diverse stakeholders, ranging from multinational resource company executives to local landowners, about how businesses can amend their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices to facilitate peaceful development. Drawing on the cases of Bougainville and Papua, it analyses the effectiveness of dominant mainstream models of CSR pursued by major resource companies to respond to threats to peace that arise from the issues of most concern to locals. A problem that this thesis reveals is that despite a commitment to CSR, Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL), PT Freeport Indonesia (Freeport) and BP (British Petroleum) failed to resolve local grievances related to their business practices in Bougainville and Papua. A framework of 'Interdependent Engagement' is designed in response to these failures. Interdependent Engagement addresses limitations of CSR to resolve the conflict flashpoints associated with the extraction of natural resources. Contrary to common expectations, the voluntary social and environmental initiatives pursued by the extractive industry do not automatically lead to improved conditions for local communities. In some cases, particularly where armed conflict arises, these initiatives may even produce more harm than good. Despite this potential danger, corporations continue to be encouraged to expand the scope of their existing CSR practices to encompass a role in peace building. Guided by a multi-site research design, the thesis connects the motivations, intentions and constraints of corporations operating in zones of conflict with local perspectives and expectations in the CSR context. The data confirm that dominant forms of CSR as used by the case study companies are limited in their capacity to assist resource extraction companies to avoid social conflict. This is due to the fact that CSR has historically tended to focus primarily on the distribution of material benefits, rather than on engagement with the deeper sources of injustice that resource companies often become entangled with. Drawing on the case studies of Bougainville and Papua, eight sites of interdependence between BCL, Freeport and BP and the grievances at the heart of the two conflicts are identified: 1. historical injustice; 2. the denial of customary land rights; 3. regional inequality & contests over resource wealth; 4. cultural, political and economic marginalisation; 5. human rights violations; 6. community disruption; 7. environmental damage, and 8. aspirations to define the future. The thesis finds that there are four important limitations of dominant models of CSR discourse that have constrained its ability to engage with these interdependencies. These are: the emphasis on pledges over institutional change, responsiveness to host states to the exclusion of local communities, failure to incorporate alternative visions of justice into the design of voluntary social and environmental initiatives, and the implementation of one-size-fits-all solutions to complex social and environmental problems. A significant outcome of this thesis is a new method for the design of CSR in areas affected by conflict - Interdependent Engagement. Based on the principles of mutuality, reflexivity, engagement and flexibility, Interdependent Engagement is presented as a model of CSR transformed. -- provided by Candidate

Corporate Social Responsibility Plus Peace

Is there a role for business in peace building? If so, what might it look like? These questions were explored at a recent conference held at the University of San Diego, USA. Kylie McKenna summarises the key themes to emerge.AusAI

There Is Relief That It Seems to Be Working': BP's Integrated Community-Based Security Strategy in West Papua

This In Brief discusses what is considered one of the first applications of the VPs: BP’s Integrated Community Based Security (ICBS) strategy in West Papua. Specifically, it draws on interviews conducted as part of a major study on corporate social responsibility and natural resource conflict that describes how this model was formulated by BP Indonesia executives (McKenna in press).AusAI

Australia's New Aid Paradigm and the Natural Resource Curse

On 18 June 2014, the Australian Government announced its new approach to overseas development with an emphasis on sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction across the Indo- Pacific region. A key focus of 'the new aid paradigm' is the promotion of private sector-led growth. As part of this, in 2014–15 Australia's aid program will be investing $41.5 million on extractive sector development assistance (up from$22.6 million in 2013–14). The extractives industry continues to represent a vital component of the private sector across the region, with numerous large-scale extractive projects currently in operation, or under negotiation. Significant examples include the reopening (and subsequent closure) of the Gold Ridge Mine in Solomon Islands, ExxonMobil's PNG LNG project (liquefied natural gas), mining and gas exploitation in the Papuan provinces of Indonesia, as well as debates on the potential resumption of large-scale mining on Bougainville. A striking feature of these cases is that they comprise new or reopened extractive projects in areas where natural resources have been directly related to prior conflict, such as the struggle over land and resources in Papua. This In Brief highlights recommendations in the academic and policy literature on how the 'natural resource curse' might be transformed into a 'resource blessing' and how this might be of relevance to the Australian aid program.AusAI

Corporate Security Practices and Human Rights in West Papua

This article explores the intersections between large extractive companies, security governance and human rights. It contributes to understandings of how extractive companies can influence human rights protection in their areas of operation. Drawing on a case study of West Papua, the article argues that extractive companies have important opportunities to promote human rights through their security practices. However the power of extractive companies to determine human rights outcomes is limited by a variety of factors. Examples include: state narratives of nation-building, the financial interests of security personnel and the history of the company's involvement in the area

Operationalising the United Nations' 'Protect, Respect and Remedy' Framework at the Porgera Gold Mine, Papua New Guinea

This In Brief discusses new research undertaken by Sinclair Dinnen and Kylie McKenna in Port Moresby and the Porgera gold mine in Enga Province in early November. This was a preliminary trip with a view to doing sustained fieldwork in 2015. Sinclair and Kylie are interested in examining a number of initiatives being undertaken by Barrick Gold, the Canadian gold miner which has operated the Porgera mine since 2006. These initiatives are taking place against a history of serious human rights allegations levelled against Barrick’s own security personnel, as well as against elements of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary.AusAI

Sustainability of Bougainville

Thiago Oppermann and Kylie McKenna summarise the key themes arising from the recent Sustainability of Bougainville Conference, held in Port Moresby in late August 2013. The authors note that participants discussed the ramifications of the limited funding base with which the Autonomous Bougainville Government had to operate. They also note that it was clear that the terms of the Bougainville Peace Agreement were still not clear among many key stakeholders in Bougainville, including Government Officials. The authors also summarise discussions around Bougainville's future prospects for growth.AusAI

A School Perspective on School-Embedded Initial Teacher Education

School-university partnerships have been developed to invigorate initial teacher education (ITE). Such partnerships potentially offer rich educational opportunities to pre-service teachers. This paper examines integrated and school-embedded approaches to ITE in the Australian context, drawing on a case study analysis of a three-year, ITE school-university-system partnership named inSITE. inSITE is explored from the perspective of the school educators directly involved in its design and delivery. Complexity science provided the theoretical framework for inSITE and signalled its principles of holism, integration and reflective practice. The factors that contributed to and inhibited school-based initial teacher education from a school’s perspective are identified. The paper concludes that, given conducive conditions, an integrated, embedded and reflective approach can address the prevailing theory-practice dualism of ITE and may offer an important third way to prepare new teachers. The challenges and opportunities for school-embedded ITE in Australia are highlighted

CONTRA: copy number analysis for targeted resequencing

Motivation: In light of the increasing adoption of targeted resequencing (TR) as a cost-effective strategy to identify disease-causing variants, a robust method for copy number variation (CNV) analysis is needed to maximize the value of this promising technology

Exponential growth, high prevalence of SARS-CoV-2, and vaccine effectiveness associated with the Delta variant

SARS-CoV-2 infections were rising during early summer 2021 in many countries associated with the Delta variant. We assessed RT-PCR swab-positivity in the REal-time Assessment of Community Transmission-1 (REACT-1) study in England. We observed sustained exponential growth with average doubling time (June-July 2021) of 25 days driven by complete replacement of Alpha variant by Delta, and by high prevalence at younger less-vaccinated ages. Unvaccinated people were three times more likely than double-vaccinated people to test positive. However, after adjusting for age and other variables, vaccine effectiveness for double-vaccinated people was estimated at between ~50% and ~60% during this period in England. Increased social mixing in the presence of Delta had the potential to generate sustained growth in infections, even at high levels of vaccination