Abstract
Myanmar's recently opened economy is flush with incoming investment and activity. World leaders advocate that all businesses entering the country must operate in a "socially responsible manner." However, the history of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Myanmar is undefined, contradictory, and complex. Thus, to get a handle around what it means to be “responsible,” this paper investigates the collective way in which actors in the petroleum industry in Myanmar enact CSR from 1990 to 2014. The oil and gas (O&G) industry is the most lucrative, and arguably powerful, national sector. The practice and philosophy of CSR, which originated in this industry, is now proclaimed to be the starting point for this newly charted course of responsible business in Myanmar. Yet, activists and critics maintain that CSR is an insincere PR measure of profit maximization whereby companies can conduct business as normal. I argue that CSR in the Myanmar petroleum industry is influenced by more complex factors than profit maximization or image management. CSR initiatives are sculpted by (1) the geography of petroleum extraction, (2) corporate philosophies and company national origins, and (3) type of company operations. The petroleum industry’s CSR activities to date, in terms of geographic span and development targets, all fit into a spectrum of assumed spheres of corporate responsibility that have been forged by the corporate ‘architects’ and tempered by geographic and global forces.
Highlights
Investigating the Myanmar petroleum industry provides a dramatic picture of the underlying structures involved with resource extraction and its corresponding extreme landscapes
In line with the global trend towards the deregulation of state control over corporate ventures and the commodification of development, there is a push for corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs in Myanmar to answer for unequal distribution of wealth as well as the social and ecological injustices generated by corporations
From my interviews and research on the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) case studies, I came to the understanding that there are three primary factors that drive how, what kind of, and where CSR programs are implemented
Summary
Investigating the Myanmar petroleum industry provides a dramatic picture of the underlying structures involved with resource extraction and its corresponding extreme landscapes This topic unveils an expanding social network of corporate-funded social initiatives, known as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs. In line with the global trend towards the deregulation of state control over corporate ventures and the commodification of development, there is a push for corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs in Myanmar to answer for unequal distribution of wealth as well as the social and ecological injustices generated by corporations. The CSR programs along the Yadana pipeline, enacted by Total, in particular are cited a template for emulation In years past, these same companies were vilified for engaging the very same investments in country, by the same actors. In reference to the flood of incoming investments (across all sectors), Aung San Suu Kyi declared:
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