Title: Mining for Progress: Copper, Conflict, and Corporate Social Responsibility at Las Bambas, Peru
Author/Institution: Forrest Culp – PhD Thesis, University of South Carolina Publication Year: 2022
Corporate Responsibility and the Politics of Legitimacy
Forrest Culp’s doctoral research provides an ethnographic lens on Peru’s Las Bambas copper mine—one of the largest and most contested extractive projects in Latin America. The study investigates how corporate social-responsibility (CSR) frameworks and development discourse are deployed to legitimize large-scale mining operations as instruments of national progress. Culp demonstrates that these strategies, while promising inclusion and prosperity, often operate as tools for managing dissent and reconfiguring the boundaries of community participation. His analysis situates CSR within the broader politics of legitimacy, showing how narratives of “responsible mining” can obscure persistent inequalities and erode trust at the local level.
Methodological Approach and Empirical Insights
Based on long-term fieldwork in the Apurímac highlands, the dissertation integrates interviews, participatory observation, and policy review to trace the evolution of the mine’s social relationships. Culp captures the tension between community expectations of development and the realities of unmet commitments, revealing how recurring negotiations and roadblocks stem from deeper institutional weaknesses. The study finds that the social license to operate (SLO) at Las Bambas is not a static achievement but a fragile, continually contested process shaped by cultural identity, political marginalization, and fluctuating state engagement.
Implications for Mining Governance and Policy
Culp concludes that sustainable mining governance cannot rely solely on compliance or philanthropic gestures; it must embed mechanisms of transparency, accountability, and co-decision-making from the outset. The Las Bambas case illustrates that legitimacy in extractive contexts is not granted by regulation— it is earned through trust, fairness, and long-term reciprocity. For policymakers, investors, and corporate leaders, the thesis underscores a fundamental lesson: without genuine community partnership, even the most technologically advanced mining ventures risk becoming symbols of conflict rather than progress.