Community leaders and community relations practitioners as agents for corporate interests: a case study of Indonesian mining

摘要

Bangka-Belitung, one of the newest provinces in Indonesia, has a low rate of mining conflict, compared to other provinces in Indonesia. An interesting phenomenon in Badau district is the apparently harmonious social relations between the kaolin mining companies and the community, including community leaders, Islamic religious leaders, prominent members and other members. This study investigated the role played by community leaders and community relations practitioners in their efforts to undertake community development activities as part of relationship building strategies. This study examined how community relations practitioners and community leaders create and maintain mutually beneficial relations in a mining community in Badau Village. Through a qualitative approach using case study design, the research employed a combination of ethnography, document analysis and interviews with representatives of two kaolin mining companies, community leaders and residents of Badau village. This study critically contributes to the agency theory by adding a new dimension of the relationship between agent and principal. It was previously contended that agent adheres to only its official principal. However, the study findings demonstrate that an agent may adhere to more than one principal. This flexibility depends on how each principal is able to strategize its usage of sources of power, such as money and knowledge. The study revealed that religion underpinned the cordial relationship between the two mining companies and community stakeholders. Both religious and community leaders played significant roles in providing companies’ the social license to operate. While they enacted agency roles, both community leaders and company representatives tended to work for the benefit of the company, and not the community. Efforts to integrate community development into community relations activities were found to privilege company interests. Implications for community relations practitioners, especially those working in contexts such as Indonesia, are recommended.