Corporate social responsibility and extractives industries in Latin America and the Caribbean: Perspectives from the ground

This article is based on the contributions to an online forum in which Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) extractive industry corporate social responsibility (EI-CSR) professionals and others contributed to extended discussions on CSR over several weeks in May 2012. This article presents highlights from those discussions, adding a set of grounded perspectives on the emerging and ongoing issues related to the surge in CSR and extractive industry activities (primarily mineral exploration and mining) throughout the LAC region. Analysis by the authors of this article identified four broad themes running throughout the discussions: 1) Current CSR practice in the LAC region is evolving, uneven, and/or limited; 2) LAC CSR models are influenced by global trends and standards but adapted to local context; 3) that in order to be effective, CSR must take into account local histories of the LAC region, particularly with regards to consultation mechanisms and Indigenous peoples; 4) that EI-CSR is generally seen as positive trend, but with many caveats.