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This book outlines how Rio Tinto-one of the world's largest miners-redesigned and rebuilt relationships with communities after the rejection of the company during Bougainville's Civil War. Glynn Cochrane recalls how he and colleagues utilized their training as social anthropologists to help the company to earn an industry leadership reputation and competitive business advantage by establishing the case for long-term, on the ground, smoke-in-the-eyes interaction with people in local communities around the world, despite the appeal of maximal efficiency techniques and quicker, easier answers. Instead of using ready-made, formulaic toolkits, Rio Tinto relied on community practitioners to try to accommodate local preferences and cultural differences. This volume provides a step-by-step account of how mining companies can use social anthropological and ethnographic insights to design ways of working with local communities, especially in times of upheaval.
List of contents
1. Introduction.- 2. Bougainville lessons for Rio Tinto.-3. Panama and indigenous peoples.- 4. Miners join the UN Global Compact.- 5. Headquarters inception.- 6. A systematic approach.-7. Artisanal mining and closure.- 8. Data and forms of CSR.- 9. Resettlement.- 10. Results.- 11. Appendices.
About the author
Glynn Cochrane, before his work with Rio Tinto, was Professor at the Maxwell Graduate School at Syracuse University, USA, and a World Bank staff member. He is now an adjunct faculty member at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Summary
This book outlines how Rio Tinto—one of the world’s largest miners—redesigned and rebuilt relationships with communities after the rejection of the company during Bougainville’s Civil War. Glynn Cochrane recalls how he and colleagues utilized their training as social anthropologists to help the company to earn an industry leadership reputation and competitive business advantage by establishing the case for long-term, on the ground, smoke-in-the-eyes interaction with people in local communities around the world, despite the appeal of maximal efficiency techniques and quicker, easier answers. Instead of using ready-made, formulaic toolkits, Rio Tinto relied on community practitioners to try to accommodate local preferences and cultural differences. This volume provides a step-by-step account of how mining companies can use social anthropological and ethnographic insights to design ways of working with local communities, especially in times of upheaval.
