Relationships and the Course of Social Events During Mineral Exploration

An Applied Sociology Approach

verfasst von: Dr. Jan Boon

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buchreihe : SpringerBriefs in Geoethics

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

This book provides the results of nine case studies of the course of social events in mineral exploration projects (mostly in Latin America). The author concluded that, while each case is sui generis, the underlying sociological processes are the same. This made it possible to develop a generalized model for the course of social events during mineral exploration. It consists of seven stages: (i) arrival of the project; (ii) initial meanings, interpretations and decisions; (iii) real dialogue; (iv) building relationships; (v) change processes; (vi) new relationships and social structures and (vii) the course of social events and perceived benefits and harms. Stages (iii) => (iv) => (v) => (iii) form a continuous iterative cycle. Dialogue and relationships are at the heart of the model. The text describes five of the nine case studies in some detail and illustrates how sociology explains the sociological processes in these projects. These examples, together with the final chapter that discusses the implications, provide many practical pointers for all actors involved: industry, communities, NGOs, home governments and host governments.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

1. Introduction

Abstract

The author undertook this study to provide a sociological framework for understanding the relationships involved in mineral exploration and the processes through which they exert their influence. This chapter gives a brief overview of the related subjects discussed in subsequent chapters.

Jan Boon

2. Context

Abstract

This chapter summarizes the context in which mineral exploration takes place. It discusses the mining cycle, describes the groups of actors involved in or affected by mineral exploration and looks at the risk of social conflict. In addition, it describes the social responsibility concept, its evolution and related international codes and guidelines. Finally, it pays attention to the special place occupied by indigenous people and the concept of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (or Consultation) and comments on the distance that still needs to be covered.

Jan Boon

3. Theoretical Framework

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to show how relationships affect the course of social events and the perceived present and future benefits and harms of mineral exploration projects. To arrive at a coherent, internally consistent analysis and interpretation of the results of the interviews, it is necessary to analyse them within an appropriate theoretical framework. This chapter describes first the place of relationships in the overall performance of a mineral exploration project, and second the theoretical framework that I selected.

Jan Boon

4. Case Studies

Abstract

For this book, I selected five of the nine case studies I conducted in the hope that they will provide useful touchstones for the reader. My Ph.D. thesis describes the details of all nine case studies (Boon, 2015). For each case, I present the following information: field study details; project description; context; patterns and characteristics of relationships; company social responsibility approach; and perceived present and future benefits and harms at the time of the study. I finish each case study with a brief comment on the status in September 2019 of the project.

Jan Boon

5. Analysis and Interpretation

Abstract

This chapter will show that the key concepts discussed in Chap. 3: relationships and their indicators, meeting transactional needs, meanings given, reference communities, and decision and change processes provide a useful framework for understanding the course of social events during mineral exploration. I begin with general comments on the relationships observed in the case studies, followed by a detailed description of the method that I used to assign a qualitative risk-of-conflict measure to each of the relationship indicators for the case studies (using the Fruta del Norte case as an example). I then combine the resulting risk-of-conflict measures for the five cases into a comparison table that presents a pictorial representation of the qualitative measures of risks associated with each case. I accompany the table with a summary risk-of-conflict narrative for each case. The remainder of the chapter discusses the interactionist processes at work in terms of meanings, reference communities and change.

Jan Boon

6. Generalized Model

Abstract

The analysis and interpretation of the interviewee comments and literature and media sources presented in the previous chapter showed that, even though the cases are sui generis, there are many similarities between the types of processes at work. The present chapter combines these observations into a generalized model that shows how these processes lead to change, the establishment of new relationship patterns and social structures and the course of social events and perceived present and future benefits and harms. It also shows where additional factors such as company and community characteristics, time and contextual factors such government policies exert their influence.

Jan Boon

7. Implications and Conclusions

Abstract

The description of the model included a number of implicit and explicit suggestions for action by various actors. The sections that follow further elaborate on how to use the model to frame the approach communities, companies, governments and organizations take in dealing with situations and with each other. The first section discusses approaches that apply to all actor groups, and subsequent sections elaborate aspects specific to particular actor groups.

Jan Boon

Titel: Relationships and the Course of Social Events During Mineral Exploration
verfasst von: Dr. Jan Boon
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-37926-1
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-37925-4
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37926-1