Webinar Details: “Comparative Analysis of Social Conflict Around Mining in Latin America”
This webinar provides an overview of the findings of research by Drs. Paul Haslam and Nasser Ary Tanimoune into the causes of social conflict between mining firms and local communities in Latin America. Haslam and Ary Tanimoune developed a large database of 642 mining properties in five countries of Latin America, which they were able to link with media reports, censuses and GIS (geographic information system) data to permit a fine-grained quantitative analysis of the correlation between various firm, socio-environmental, and population characteristics and social conflict.
These analyses were the first to allow methodologically rigorous and generalizable conclusions about these relationships, beyond the single case studies (both best and worst cases) that had characterized much of the academic literature on mining, CSR and social conflict. The webinar presents the findings of this research according to three sets of characteristics that affect the likelihood of social conflict between a mining firm and nearby communities: local factors related to the environmental pressures and population attributes; firm-level factors; and the nationality of the mining company (particularly Canadian ownership).
Our Speaker: Dr. Paul Haslam, Associate Professor, University of Ottawa
Paul Haslam is an Associate Professor at the School of International Development and Global Studies, University of Ottawa. His research into resource-based development, mining, and corporate social responsibility has been published in prominent international academic journals including World Development, Development & Change, and the Review of International Political Economy. Recently, Dr. Haslam’s research was extensively cited in witness testimony and in the final report of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development’s investigation into human rights and the extractive sector (published in February 2019).