Why be poor when we can be rich? Constructing responsible mining in El Pangui, Ecuador

Mining companies operating in Latin America are giving Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) more attention than before, in part because of the rise in mining-related conflicts and criticism about the industry's social and environmental impacts. Companies propose that CSR could play an important role in mitigating conflict or lessening its risk. This article argues that the opposite may also be the case. As the mining conflict in El Pangui, Southeast Ecuador transforms social territorial dynamics, CSR also has a function in those transformations by contributing to the polarisation of conflict. The paper provides a brief ethnographic account of the ongoing conflict in El Pangui, and critically examines the moves made by the company, Corriente Resources Inc., to illustrate how CSR discourses and programmes may play an adverse role in social conflict. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.