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SUMMARY:Corporate Social Responsibility and Political Control in Kenya and
  South Africa - Speaker to be confirmed
DTSTART:20170313T170000Z
DTEND:20170313T180000Z
UID:TALK71521@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:37963
DESCRIPTION:Businesses today often serve as governing authorities\, provid
 ing public services and maintaining public order. The assumption of state-
 like functions serves a pragmatic purpose but as local communities become 
 reliant on business for basic needs\, businesses acquire political respons
 ibilities. Why do firms take on these responsibilities\, and how\, if at a
 ll\, do these practices achieve political legitimacy? This paper compares 
 corporate service provision for employees and local communities at two com
 pany sites – the Lonmin platinum mines in North-West Province\, South Af
 rica and the Del Monte pineapple plantation in Thika\, Kenya. It finds tha
 t both companies use service provision to nullify resistance to their core
  business practices. While at Del Monte\, workers\, communities and regula
 tors are treated as distinct sources of resistance with programs and polic
 ies tailored to each\, at Lonmin\, company programs directly exploit polit
 ical disagreements between and among workers\, communities and the state a
 bout the meaning of post-apartheid transformation. While workers and local
  residents in both cases regard particular company governance practices as
  illegitimate\, they nevertheless see companies\, alongside or instead of 
 the state\, as governing authorities with the responsibility to provide fo
 r their welfare. This partial legitimacy allows Lonmin and Del Monte to pr
 otect their existence as companies with colonial roots in postcolonial soc
 ieties.\n
LOCATION:Room S1\, Alison Richard Building\, 7 West Road\, University of C
 ambridge\, Cambridge CB3 9DT
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