Abstract
Through liberalization and globalization, transnational corporations (TNCs) are arguably the most important actors in the global economy. In the last two decades there has been a move towards TNC and host country cooperation and industry self-regulation.1 Civil society opposition, however, has emerged at multiple scales, concerned that there cannot be corporate responsibility without accountability.2 While the case can be made for increased recognition of TNCs’ responsibilities towards the countries in which they operate, how TNCs are governed in developing countries is a relatively understudied area. This chapter seeks to contribute to this area of inquiry by exploring how industry’s performance in the field of environmental health has evolved in a South African context.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Acutt, Nicola J., Perspectives on Corporate Responsibility: The South African Experience with Voluntary Initiatives (Norwich: University of East Anglia, 2003).
Acutt, Nicola J., Veronica Medina-Ross and Tim O’Riordan, ‘Perspectives on corporate social responsibility in the chemical sector: A comparative analysis of the Mexican and South African cases’, Natural Resources Forum, Vol. 28 (2004) 302–16.
Adger, Neil W., Katrina Brown, Jenny Fairbrass, Andrew Jordan, Jouni Paavola, Sergio Rosendo and Gill Seyfang, ‘Governance for sustainability: Towards a “thick” analysis of environmental decisionmaking’, Environment and Planning A, Vol. 35(6), June (2003) 1095–110.
Aragon-Correa, J.A., ‘Strategic proactivity and firm approach to the natural environment’, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 41, No 5 (1998) 556–67.
Bäckstrand, Karin, ‘Civic science for sustainability: Reframing the role of experts, policy-makers and citizens in environmental governance’, Global Environmental Politics, Vol. 3, No. 4 (2003) 24–40.
Bansal, Partima, ‘Evolving sustainably: A longitudinal study of corporate sustainable development’, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 26 (2005) 197–218.
Barnett, Clive, ‘Media transformation and new practices of citizenship: The example of environmental activism in post-apartheid Durban’, Transformation, Vol. 51 (2003) 1–24.
Barnett, Clive and Dianne Scott, ‘Spaces of opposition: Activism and deliberation in post-apartheid environmental politics’, Environment and Planning A, Vol. 39 (2007) 2612–31.
Barranco, José and Dominique Wisler, ‘Validity and systematicity of newspaper data in event analysis’, European Sociological Review, Vol. 15, No. 3 (1999) 301–22.
Beinart, William, Twentieth-Century South Africa (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001).
Bendell, Jem, Barricades and Boardrooms: A Contemporary History of the Corporate Accountability Movement, Programme on Technology, Business and Society, Paper No. 13 (Geneva: UNRISD, 2004).
Brown, Halina Szejnwald, Patrick Derr, Ortwin Renn and Allen L. White, Corporate Environmentalism in a Global Economy: Societal Values in International Technology Transfer (Westport, CT: Quorum Books, 1993).
Bulkeley, Harriet, ‘Reconfiguring environmental governance: Towards a politics of scales and networks’, Political Geography, Vol. 24, No. 8 (2005) 875–1014.
Carnie, Tony, ‘Disease stalks Merebank kids, study finds’, Independent Online (IOL), 28 February (2002). www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=ct20020228211611476W200895 (accessed on 15 December 2008).
Carnie, Tony, ‘Durban cancer cluster “not a fluke” — expert’, Independent Online (IOL), 10 September (2000). www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=ct20000910215512895S320884 (accessed on 15 December 2008).
Challenor, Martin, ‘Historic Durban environmental deal reached’, The Daily News,7 December (1999) 11.
Chetty, Siva, Processes That Led to a Dramatic Reduction in SO2 in the South Durban Basin, eThekwini Municipality (Durban: Pollution Control Support, eThekwini Health, 2007).
Christmann, Petra, ‘Multinational companies and the natural environment: Determinants of global environmental policy standardization’, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 47, No. 5 (2004) 747–60.
Christmann, Petra and Glenn Taylor, ‘Firm self-regulation through international certifiable standards: Determinants of symbolic versus substantive implementation’, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 37 (2006) 863–78.
Cock, Jacklyn, Connecting the Red, Brown and Green: The Environmental Justice Movement in South Africa (Durban: University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Centre for Civil Society, 2004).
Cock, Jacklyn and Eddie Koch, Going Green: People, Politics and the Environment in South Africa (Cape Town: Oxford University Press, 1991).
Delmas, Magali and Michael W. Toffel, ‘Stakeholders and environmental management practices: An institutional framework’, Business Strategy and the Environment, Vol. 13 (2004) 209–22.
DiMaggio, Paul and Walter W. Powell, ‘The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields’. In Walter W. Powell and Paul DiMaggio (eds), The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1991).
DME (Department of Minerals and Energy, Republic of South Africa), White Paper on the Energy Policy of the Republic of South Africa, December (Pretoria: Department of Minerals and Energy, 1998).
Earl, Jennifer, Andrew Martin, John D. McCarthy and Sarah A. Soule, ‘The use of newspaper data in the study of collective action’, Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 30 (2004) 65–80.
Eckerberg, Katarina and Marko Joas, ‘Multi-level environmental governance: A concept under stress?’, Local Environment, Vol. 9(5) (2004) 405–12.
Engen, Engen Sustainability Report (Cape Town: Engen Ltd., 2007a).
Engen, A History of Success (2007b). www.engen.co.za (accessed on 27 September 2007).
Engen, Engen Limited Sustainability Report 2006 (Cape Town: Engen Ltd., 2006).
Engen, Engen Limited Sustainability Report 2005 (Cape Town: Engen Ltd., 2005).
Engen, Engen Petroleum Limited Sustainability Report 2004 (Cape Town: Engen Petroleum Ltd., 2004).
Fatah, Sonya, ‘The environment’s rich dad, poor dad scenario’, Business Day, 14 August (2002). www.businessday.co.za/Articles/TarkArticle.aspx?ID=584572 (accessed on 16 September 2008).
FoEI (Friends of the Earth International), Corporate Campaigns: Case Study on Shell (2006). www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/corporates/case_studies/shell/index.html (accessed on 26 March 2006).
FoEI (Friends of the Earth International), Shell Fenceline Communities: Shell CEO Must Deliver on His Promises, Press Release, 8 December (2005). www.corribsos.com/index.php?id=493 (accessed on 15 December 2008).
FoEI (Friends of the Earth International), Towards Binding Corporate Accountability (2002). www.foei.org/corporates/towards.html (accessed on 14 March 2006).
Garcia-Johnson, Ronie, Exporting Environmentalism: U.S. Multinational Chemical Corporations in Brazil and Mexico (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000).
GEAR (Growth, Employment and Redistribution), Growth, Employment and Redistribution: A Macroeconomic Strategy (Pretoria: Department of Finance, 1996).
Glasbergen, P., Co-operative Environmental Governance: Public-Private Agreements as a Policy Strategy (Dordrecht/London: Kluwer Academic, 1998).
Gouldson, Andy and Rory Sullivan, ‘Corporate environmentalism: Tracing the links between policies and performance using corporate reports and public registers’, Business Strategy and the Environment, Vol. 16, Nos I-II (2007) 1–11.
Groundwork, Groundwork website (2006). www.groundwork.org.za/default.asp (accessed on 20 March 2007).
Groundwork, Press Release: Communities Attend Royal Dutch Shell’s AGs in London/The Hague and Raise Their Concerns (2003). www.groundwork.org.za/Press%20Releases/pr_shell_agm.htm (accessed on 3 January 2007).
Hajer, Maarten A., The Politics of Environmental Discourse: Ecological Modernization and the Policy Process (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995).
Hamann, Ralph and Nicola Acutt, ‘How should civil society (and the government) respond to “corporate social responsibility”? A critique of business motivations and the potential of partnerships’, Development Southern Africa, Vol. 20, No. 2 (2003) 255–70.
Hoffman, Andrew J., ‘Linking organizational and field-level analyses’, Organization & Environment, Vol. 14, No. 2 (2001) 133–56.
Hoffman, Andrew J., ‘Institutional evolution and change: Environmentalism and the U.S. chemical industry’, The Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 42, No. 4 (1999) 351–71.
Hoffman, Andrew J. and Marc J. Ventresca, Organizations, Policy and the Natural Environment: Institutional and Strategic Perspectives (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2002).
Howes, Rupert, J. Skea and Bob Whelan, Clean and Competitive? MotivatingEnvironmental Performance in Industry (London: Earthscan, 1997).
Idemudia, Uwafiokun, Corporate Partnerships and Community Development in the Nigerian Oil Industry, Programme on Markets, Business and Regulation, Paper No. 2 (Geneva: UNRISD, 2007).
Ilinitch, A.Y., N.S. Soderstrom and T.E. Thomas, ‘Measuring corporate environmental performance’, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Vol. 17 (1998) 383–408.
Ismail, Farhana, ‘Greenpeace activists storm refinery’, Independent Online (IOL), 4 September (2002). www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=ct20020904125554950G652384 (accessed on 15 December 2008).
Kagan, R.A., N. Gunningham and D. Thornton, ‘Explaining corporate environmental performance: How does regulation matter?’, Law & Society Review, Vol. 37, No. 1 (2003) 51–90.
King, AndrewA. and Michael J. Lenox, ‘Industryself-regulation without sanctions: The chemical industry’s responsible care program]’, The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 43, No.4 (2000) 698–716
Kostova, Tatiana and Kendall Roth, ‘Adoption of an organizational practice by subsidiaries of multinational corporations: Institutional and relational effects’, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 45, No. 1 (2002) 215–33.
Kostova, Tatiana and Srilata Zaheer, ‘Organizational legitimacy under conditions of complexity: The case of the multinational enterprise’, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (1999) 64–81.
Lents, James M. and Nick Nikkila, South African Air Quality Related Findings and Recommendations (Rancho Cucamonga, CA: Global Sustainable Systems Research/GSSR, 2000). www.rmef.co.za/home/server/air_quality/lents_report/lent_report_air_quality.html (accessed on 15 December 2008).
Levy, David L. and Peter Newell, The Business of Global Environmental Governance (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2005).
Levy, David L. and Peter Newell, ‘Business strategy and international environmental governance: Toward a neo-Gramscian synthesis’, Global Environmental Politics, Vol. 2, No. 4 (2002) 84–101.
Litfin, Karent T., Ozone Discourses: Science and Politics in Global Environmental Cooperation (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994).
Lund-Thomsen, Peter, ‘Corporate accountability in South Africa: The role of community mobilizing in environmental governance’, International Affairs, Vol. 81, No. 3 (2005) 619–33.
Marais, Hein, South Africa Limits to Change: The Political Economy of Transition (Cape Town: UCT Press, 2001).
Mason, Michael, The New Accountability: Environmental Responsibility across Borders (London: Earthscan, 2005).
Mbendi. South Africa: Oil and Gas Overview (2007). www.mbendi.co.za/indy/oilg/af/sa/p0005.htm (accessed on 17 February 2007).
Meyer, John W. and Brian Rowan, ‘Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony’, The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 83, No. 2 (1977) 340–63.
NBI (National Business Initiative), National Business Initiative website (2008). www.nbi.org.za (accessed on 26 March 2008).
Nhlapo, Phumi, ‘Forumslings mudatstateonindustrialclean-upplan’, SundayTribune, 29 July (2001) 3.
North, Douglass C., Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990).
Nurick, Robert and Victoria Johnson, ‘Toward community based indicators for monitoring quality of life and the impact of industry in south Durban’, Environment and Urbanization, Vol. 10, No. 1 (1998) 233–50.
OGJ (Oil & Gas Journal), ‘Worldwide refining survey’, Vol. 101, No. 49 (2003).
O’Rourke, D., Community-Based Regulation: Balancing Development and Environment in Vietnam (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004).
Ostrom, Elinor, T. Dietz, N. Dolsak, P. Stern, S. Sonich and E. Weber (eds), The Drama of the Commons (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2002).
Parkes, Richard, ‘Criticism absurd and unfounded’, Daily News, 29 January (2002) 13.
Patel, Zarina, ‘Rethinking sustainable development in the post-apartheid reconstruction of South African cities’, Local Environment, Vol. 5, No. 4 (2000) 383–99.
Peek, Bobby, ‘Sapref: What about accountability?’, Daily News, 8 January (2002) 6.
Perkins, Richard, ‘Globalizing corporate environmentalism? Convergence and heterogeneity in Indian industry’, Studies in Comparative International Development, Vol. 42, Nos 3–4 (2007) 279–309.
PETRONAS (Petroliam Nasional Berhad), Petronas Group Sustainability Report 2007 (Kuala Lumpur: PETRONAS, 2007).
Powell, Walter W. and Paul DiMaggio, The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1991).
Prakash, Aseem, Greening the Firm: The Politics of Corporate Environmentalism (Cambridge, UK/New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000).
Republic of South Africa, Constitution of the Republic of South Africa No. 108 of 1996 (Pretoria: Republic of South Africa, 1996).
Republic of South Africa, National Treasury, National Budget 2007: National Medium Term Expenditure Estimates — Environmental Affairs and Tourism (Pretoria: National Treasury, 2007). www.treasury.gov.za/documents/national%20budget/2007/ene/Default.aspx (accessed on 15 December 2008).
Roberts, Debra and Nicci Diederichs, ‘Durban’s local Agenda 21 programme: Tackling sustainable development in a post-apartheid city’, Environment & Urbanization, Vol. 14, No. 1 (2002) 189–201.
Rosenzweig, Philip M. and Jitendra V. Singh, ‘Organizational environments and the multinational enterprise’, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 16, No. 2 (1991) 340–61.
Russo, Michael V. and Paul A. Fouts, ‘A resource-based perspective on corporate environmental performance and profitability’, The Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 40, No. 3 (1997) 534–59.
SA DEAT (South Africa Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism), South Durban Basin Multi-Point Plan: Case Study Report (Pretoria: DEAT, 2007).
SA DEAT (South Africa Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism), DEAT Strategic Plan: 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2010 (Pretoria: DEAT, 2006).
SA DEAT (South Africa Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism), 10 Year Review: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (Pretoria: DEAT, 2004).
SAPIA (South African Petroleum Industry Association), SAPIA website (2007). www.sapia.org.za/index.htm (accessed on 15 September 2007).
SAPIA (South African Petroleum Industry Association), SAPIA Annual Report 2005 (Cape Town: SAPIA, 2005).
SAPIA (South African Petroleum Industry Association), SAPIA Annual Report 1996 (Cape Town: SAPIA, 1996).
SAPREF (South African Petroleum Refineries), SAPREF website (2007). www.sapref.com/profile.htm (accessed on 1 January 2007).
SAPREF (South African Petroleum Refineries), Sustainability in Focus (Durban: SAPREF, 2006).
SAPREF (South African Petroleum Refineries), Sustainability in Focus (Durban: SAPREF, 2005).
SAPREF (South African Petroleum Refineries), Towards Sustainability 2004 (Durban: SAPREF, 2004).
Scott, W. Richard, Institutions and Organizations (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2001).
SDCEA-DN (South Durban Community Environmental Alliance), Comparison of Refineries in Denmark and South Durban in an Environmental and Societal Context: A 2002 Snapshot (South Durban: SDCEA-DN, 2003).
Sharma, Sanjay and Harrie Vredenburg, ‘Proactive corporate environmental strategy and the development of competitively valuable organizational capabilities’, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 19 (1998) 729–53.
Shell, Responsible Energy: The Shell Sustainability Report 2007 (London: Royal Dutch Shell plc, 2007).
Shell, Shell’s Approach to Interacting with Communities (2006a). www.shell.com (accessed on 26 March 2006).
Shell, Shell’s Approach to Reporting (2006b). www.shell.com (accessed on 26 March 2006).
Shell, 2002 Social Performance Review: SAPREF Refinery, Durban, South Africa (Durban: SAPREF, 2003).
Suchman, Mark, ‘Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches’, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20 (1995) 571–610.
Task Team, Possible Reforms to the Fiscal Regime Applicable to Windfall Profits in South Africa’s Liquid Fuel Energy Sector, with Particular Reference to the Synthetic Fuel Industry: A Discussion Document for Public Comment, report by the Task Team appointed by the Minister of Finance, Republic of South Africa, Pretoria, 20 July (2006).
Transparency International, Promoting Revenue Transparency (Berlin: Transparency International, 2008).
UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), South Africa Human Development Report 2003 (Cape Town: Oxford University Press, 2003).
Utting, Peter, The Greening of Business in Developing Countries: Rhetoric, Reality and Prospects (London: Zed Books, 2002).
Utting, Peter, Business Responsibility for Sustainable Development, Occasional Paper No. 2 (Geneva: UNRISD, 2000).
Westney, Eleanor D. ‘Institutionalization theory and the multinational corporation’. In Sumantra Ghoshal and Eleanor D. Westney (eds), Organization Theory and the Multinational Corporation (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1993).
Wheeler, David, Heike Fabig and Richard Boele, ‘Paradoxes and dilemmas for stakeholder responsive firms in the extractive sector: Lessons from the case of Shell and the Ogoni’, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 39 (2002) 297–318.
Wiley, D., C. Root and S. Peek, ‘Contesting the urban industrial environment in South Durban in a period of democratisation and globalisation’. In Bill Freund and Vishnu Padayachee (eds), (D)urban Vortex: South African City in Transition (Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press, 2002).
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2010 UNRISD
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Van Alstine, J. (2010). Spaces of Contestation: The Governance of Industry’s Environmental Performance in Durban, South Africa. In: Utting, P., Marques, J.C. (eds) Corporate Social Responsibility and Regulatory Governance. International Political Economy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230246966_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230246966_11
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-36631-6
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-24696-6
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)