Understandings of Social Investment in the Oil and Gas Sector (Approaches to Global Sustainability, Markets, and Governance)

This book explores research that contributes to the current literature on the Oil and Gas Sector by analysing the multiple discourses that experts use to examine social investment. This book explains how these discourses influence social investment practices and host communities in the O&G sector. This book serves as a starting point from which companies, social investment experts, communities, host country governments, and international banks can build more participatory and community-centred social investment programmes to promote positive futures. The book suggests an alternative approach to O&G social investment, where social investment represents one of the main tools of social engagement, rather than its substitute; and where care instead of profit, becomes the driver of O&G social investment. Preface 9 Acknowledgements 11 Contents 13 About the Author 17 List of Figures 18 List of Tables 19 1 Introduction 20 1.1 What Led Me to This Research? 20 1.2 Positioning Myself in the Research Aims and Questions 22 1.3 Theoretical Approach 23 1.4 Definition of Terms 24 1.5 Outline of the Research 26 References 27 2 The Study Context 30 2.1 An Overview of the O&G Sector 30 2.1.1 O&G Project Cycles and Respective Activities 32 2.2 O&G Activities and Their Impact on Host Environments and Societies 33 2.2.1 The Direct Impacts of O&G Activities 34 2.2.2 The Socio-Economic Impacts of O&G Activities 37 2.3 International Banks and Their Impact on the O&G Industry 40 2.4 Summary 43 References 43 3 Literature Review: Social Investment in the O&G Sector 48 3.1 Why Do O&G Social Investments Fail? 48 3.1.1 Replicating the Same Social Investment Concept and Design in Different Contexts 49 3.1.2 Solely Business-Oriented O&G Social Investment 50 3.1.3 O&G Social Investment Used to Benefit a Few Individuals 51 3.1.4 O&G Social Investment as an Alternative to Government 52 3.1.5 O&G Social Investment Solely Based on Philanthropy 53 3.2 Why Do O&G Social Investments Succeed? 55 3.2.1 Community-Centred O&G Social Investment 55 3.2.2 Transparent and Accountable O&G Social Investment 57 3.3 ‘Gaps’ in the Existing Literature on O&G Social Investment 58 3.4 Summary 59 References 59 4 Theoretical Framework 62 4.1 Power 62 4.1.1 Power in the Work of Freire 63 4.1.2 Power in the Work of Escobar, Andreotti and Shrestha 64 4.1.3 Power in the Work of Foucault 65 4.2 Discourse 66 4.3 Subjectivity and Agency 67 4.4 Summary 69 References 69 5 Methodology 72 5.1 Methodological Considerations 72 5.1.1 Consent and Recruitment 73 5.1.2 Informed Consent and Anonymity 74 5.1.3 Ethical Dilemmas 74 5.2 The Research Design 75 5.2.1 Population from Which Participants Are Drawn 75 5.2.2 Recruiting Participants 76 5.2.3 Period of Recruitment 77 5.2.4 The Research Participants 78 5.3 Conducting the Interviews 79 5.3.1 Transcribing the Interviews 81 5.3.2 Selecting the Guideline Documents 81 5.3.3 Analysing the Interview Transcripts and Social Investment Guidelines 82 5.4 The Research Field—Reflexive Accounts 85 5.5 Summary 86 References 87 6 Social Investment Discourses in Participants’ Interviews 90 6.1 Working on Discourses 91 6.2 Working Around Discourses 95 6.3 Working for Discourses 99 6.4 Working with Discourses 102 6.5 Summary 106 References 106 7 Discourses of Social Investment in Guideline Documents 109 7.1 Contextualising the Guideline Documents 110 7.2 The Guideline Documents and Working with Discourses of Social Investment 111 7.3 The Guideline Documents and Working on Discourses of Social Investment 113 7.4 The Guideline Documents and Working Around Discourses of Social Investment 116 7.5 The Guideline Documents and Working for Discourses of Social Investment 120 7.6 Summary 121 References 123 8 Participants’ Recommendations for O&G Social Investment 126 8.1 Considering the Purpose of Social Investment 127 8.1.1 Social Investment Beyond a Social License to Operate 127 8.1.2 Investing in Communities’ Capacity Building 128 8.2 Engaging with the Community 130 8.2.1 Community Empowerment 131 8.2.2 Managing Communities’ Expectations 134 8.3 Engaging with the Government 137 8.3.1 Partnering with the Government 137 8.3.2 The Government’s Role 138 8.4 Engagement with Company Peers 140 8.5 Summary 141 References 144 9 Closing Reflections 145 9.1 A Brief Overview of the Book 145 9.2 Addressing the Research Questions 146 9.3 The Research Implications 149 9.3.1 Implication 1: Reconceptualising Social Investment in More Modest Terms 149 9.3.2 Implication 2: Reframing Communities’ Roles in the Community-Driven Development Principles 151 9.3.3 Implication 3: Including and Acknowledging the Challenges of Social Investment in the Guideline Documents 151 9.3.4 Implication 4: Establishing Open Dialogue with Host Governments 152 9.3.5 Implication 5: Raising Social Investment Experts’ Awareness of Their Influence on Shaping Communities’ Needs 152 9.4 Research Limitations and Future Research 153 9.5 Research Contributions 154 9.6 Conclusion 155 References 155 Appendix A—Information Sheet for Participants (Phases 1, 2 and 3) 157 An Exploration of the Oil and Gas Sector’s Social Investment in Host Countries 157 Information Sheet for Participants 157 How Long Will the Interview Take? 158 Appendix B—Information Sheet for Participants (Phase 4) 160 An Exploration of the Oil and Gas Sector’s Social Investment in Host Countries 160 Information Sheet for Participants 160 How Long Will the Interview Take? 161 Appendix C—Interview Questions (Phases 2 and 3) 163 Semi-structured Interview Questions 163 Oil and Gas Social Investment Experts 163 Appendix D—Interview Questions (Phase 4) 165 Semi-structured Interview Questions 165 Government Experts 165 Appendix E—Consent form (Phases 1, 2, 3 and 4) 167 An Exploration of the Oil and Gas Sectors’s Social Investment in Host Countries 167 Consent Form for Participants 167 Appendix F—Recommendations from Phase 1 169