(1)From Social Responsibility towards Corporate Territorial Responsibility

摘要

Currently, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)is the “framework” within which the interaction of private businesses with the communities in the areas of influence where these companies operate occurs. CSR practices in the extractive industry, in particular in relations to the “private social investment,” have been implemented as a series of short-term transactions between stakeholders, with limited empowerment of communities and insignificant creation of alliances and/or alignments with local public institutions. These ways of approaching the relationships with the local actors have led to extractive companies i)running into numerous complaints from actors with heterogeneous interests, ii)trying to give specific, isolated answers to structural problems, iii)showing a tendency towards occupying a central position in the social development in their areas of influence, partially or totally replacing the State, particularly in contexts of significant institutional weakness. The above mentioned consequences have affected the profitability of extractive projects, producing conflicts between parties involved and causing the companies to make social investments without an overriding strategy. Based on their own experience in advising mining companies in Africa and Latin America, as well as through identification and analysis of best practices in social and organizational innovation, the authors intend to develop the basis for a conceptual and analytical framework that would, in turn, lead us to rethink the relationship between extractive companies and the territory, spearheading a transition from a focus on Corporate Social Responsibility to a Territorial Corporate Responsibility approach. This approach aims at i)co-responsibility among private actors, community and regional actors under new territorial governance frameworks, ii)community empowerment and strengthening of local institutions and, iii)improving the adaptive capacities of territories and productive diversification so as to be able to better deal with social, economic and environmental changes.