The slow violence of corporate social responsibility: the case of mining in Peru

Abstract

Drawing on fieldwork in three Andean regions of Peru, this article analyses the capacity of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to reduce mining-related violence in rural communities in developing countries. Within Peru, to some extent CSR has stabilised short-term relationships between mining corporations and nearby communities, although tensions remain high in others. While effects are varied and locally-contingent, the findings support a theoretical understanding of CSR as deeply embedded in legitimising the violence of capitalism, including the slow violence from degrading local environments.