Earth Matters

Ciaran O'Faircheallaigh is Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Brisbane. He is the author of A New Approach to Policy Evaluation: Mining and Indigenous People (Ashgate, 2002) and numerous monographs on indigenous people and resource development, negotiation, social impact assessment and public management. He has worked as a negotiator and advisor for many of Australia's leading Aboriginal organisations. Saleem H. Ali is associate professor of environmental planning at the University of Vermont and on the adjunct faculty of Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies. He is the author of Mining the Environment and Indigenous Development Conflicts (University of Arizona Press, 2004) and the editor of Peace Parks: Conservation and Conflict Resolution (MIT Press, 2007). Dr Ali has a bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Tufts University, a master's in Environmental Studies from Yale University and a doctorate in environmental planning from MIT. Further details about his research can be found on www.uvm.edu/~shali.

• ForewordWayne Bergmann, Executive Director, Kimberley Land Council IntroductionCiaran O'Faircheallaigh, Department of Politics and Public Policy, Griffith University, Australia 1. Corporate social responsibility and democratisation: opportunities and obstaclesKatherine Trebeck, Research and Policy Executive, the Wise Group, Glasgow, UK 2. The impact of resource development on social ties: theory and methods for assessmentSharman Haley, Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska Anchorage, USA, and James Magdanz, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Kotzebue Alaska, USA 3. Realising solidarity: indigenous peoples and NGOs in the contested terrains of mining and corporate accountabilityCatherine Coumans, MiningWatch Canada 4. Understanding corporate–Aboriginal agreements on mineral development: a conceptual frameworkCiaran O'Faircheallaigh, Department of Politics and Public Policy, Griffith University, Australia 5. Indigenous peoples, corporate social responsibility and the fragility of the interpersonal domainRichie Howitt, Department of Human Geography, Macquarie University, Australia, and Rebecca Lawrence, Department of Sociology, University of Stockholm, Sweden 6. Corporate engagement with indigenous women in the minerals industry: making space for theoryGinger Gibson, Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, University of British Columbia, Canada, and Deanna Kemp, Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining, University of Queensland, Australia 7. Archaeological heritage and traditional forests within the logging economy of British Columbia: an opportunity for corporate social responsibilityBill Angelbeck, Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Canada 8. Indigenous employment outcomes in the Australian mining industryTanuja Barker, Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining, University of Queensland, Australia 9. The fragmentation of responsibilities in the Melanesian mining sectorColin Filer and John Burton, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, and Glenn Banks, School of People, Environment and Planning, Massey University, New Zealand 10. Shareholder activism and corporate behaviour in Ecuador: a comparative study of two oil venturesEmily McAteer, RiskMetrics Group, USA, Jamie Cerretti, Environment America, USA, and Saleem H. Ali, University of Vermont, USA 11. Environmental justice concerns with transnational mining operations: exploring the limitations of post-crisis community dialogues in PeruIsabelle Anguelovski, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA 12. Indigenous people and mineral resource extraction in Russia: the case of diamondsSusan A. Crate, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University, USA, and Natalia Yakovleva, BRASS Research Centre, Cardiff University, UK 13. ConclusionSaleem H. Ali, University of Vermont, USA

This, when published, was a brave book. It tackles community issues which are uncomfortable for many companies because the resolution of the issues is neither clear-cut nor complete. The documentation of the issues is an important contribution to the on-going search for solutions. The book chronicles efforts and activities relating to indigenous peoples who are directly or indirectly affected by mining activities. There is more reference to experiences with aboriginal peoples in Australia than other areas of the World (which include indigenous peoples in Russia, Peru, Ecuador, Papua New Guinea and the Arctic). I was disappointed with the depth of material covering Africa, which has its own set of social and economic problems, as it reflects against women, artisanal miners and children.Having said that, the book is rich in detail and depth for the areas and grouping it does cover. The different papers make extensive reference to the available literature on their various subjects and they give clear and detailed perspectives.