New Books in Anthropology

Lian Sinclair, "Undermining Resistance: The Governance of Participation by Multinational Mining Corporations" (Manchester UP, 2024)

May 2, 2025

Lian Sinclair, a Postdoctoral research associate at the University of Sydney, dives deep into the world of multinational mining corporations and their strategies in her book, 'Undermining Resistance.' She discusses how these companies use participation to undermine local resistance, highlighting case studies from Indonesia. Sinclair emphasizes the dual nature of mining's impact on communities and the crucial role of grassroots activism. She also explores the complexities of corporate legitimacy and the shifting investment landscape, revealing how these factors complicate the relationship between communities and corporations.

36:47

Episode guests

Lian Sinclair

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Multinational mining corporations utilize participatory mechanisms to undermine local resistance while reshaping community-corporate conflicts in Indonesia.

The engagement of communities with corporate initiatives often reflects their social relations and historical practices concerning land ownership and resource control.

Deep dives

The Impact of Foreign Mining Companies in Indonesia

Foreign mining companies play a significant role in reshaping Indonesian society through both economic opportunity and social disruption. Their operations often promise wealth and development, yet they frequently result in environmental degradation, human rights abuses, and social inequality. The process of land grabbing, as large multinational companies acquire land for mining, can disrupt existing social structures and force communities to adapt or seek new livelihoods. This complex dynamic highlights the paradox of development, where the influx of capital can lead to both progress and local displacement.

Intro

2min

Mining and Resistance: A Journey Through Australia and Indonesia

24min

Navigating the Complexities of Political Economy in Mining

3min

Understanding Corporate Legitimacy and Community Dynamics in Mining

3min

The Shifting Landscape of Mining: Nickel, Energy, and Investment in Indonesia

2min

Why do multinational mining corporations use participation to undermine resistance? Do the struggles of local communities, activists and NGOs matter on a global scale? Why are there so many different global standards in mining?

Undermining Resistance: The Governance of Participation by Multinational Mining Corporations (Manchester UP, 2024) develops a new critical political economy approach to studying extractive accumulation, drawing on three detailed Indonesian cases to explain how participatory mechanisms continuously reshape and are reshaped by community-corporate conflict. Findings highlight feedback between local social relations, conflict, transnational activism, crises of legitimacy and global governance.

The author argues that corporate social responsibility, community development, 'gender-mainstreaming' and environmental monitoring are neither simple outcomes of corporate ethics nor mere greenwashing strategies. Rather, participation is a mechanism to undermine resistance and create social relations amenable to extractive accumulation.

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