Stuart Kirsch > Quotes

“by an active participant in political campaigns against the excesses of the mining industry, rather than by a neutral observer. Instead of jeopardizing access to key informants and events, engagement with these issues has provided me with an insider perspective on the interactions between corporations and their critics. It has offered new sites for ethnographic observation, new questions for research, and new perspectives on the corporation.”
― Stuart Kirsch, Mining Capitalism: The Relationship between Corporations and Their Critics

“In the ensuing discussion at the Manila workshop, I compared the search for a responsible mine to the pursuit of a mythical beast that people believe in because they have heard stories of its existence, even though no one claims to have seen it.18”
― Stuart Kirsch, Mining Capitalism: The Relationship between Corporations and Their Critics

“Studying the mining industry requires a healthy dose of skepticism and perhaps even a measure of cynicism, especially in relation to the promotion of the virtuous discourses of sustainability and corporate social responsibility. In contrast to the anthropological tradition of suspending one’s disbelief when conducting ethnographic research, I have declined to give the mining industry the benefit of the doubt: its track record demands a higher standard of proof.”
― Stuart Kirsch, Mining Capitalism: The Relationship between Corporations and Their Critics

“On a number of occasions, I have been asked to present a positive example of a mining project that has fulfilled its commitments to local communities: protected the environment, safeguarded labor rights, ensured the equitable distribution of benefits, and adequately provided for mine closure and proper rehabilitation of the mine site. Indeed, it would enhance my scholarly credibility to be able to provide examples of projects meeting these criteria and point to them as exemplars for other mining projects to follow. Yet there are no mines that meet all of these criteria.”
― Stuart Kirsch, Mining Capitalism: The Relationship between Corporations and Their Critics