Doing Just Business: An Empirical Analysis of Mining Multinationals, Human Rights and Sustainable Community Development in Western Ghana

This interdisciplinary research examines the ability of gold mining multinationals to fulfill their human rights obligations and investigates how local communities in Ghana attempt to hold these corporations accountable with respect to human rights. The Canadian mid-tier gold mining company Golden Star Resources (GSR) and its host community in Dumasi were used to carry out an intensive case study which explored the relationship between business and human rights and its implications for sustainable community development in a Global South context. Adopting a mixed-method approach, I collected data during a three-month fieldwork in Ghana. Findings from the study suggest that GSR is not meeting its human rights obligations in Dumasi largely due to the complex interaction between internal organisational factors and the nature of the external socio-political environment in which GSR operates. In response to prevailing corporate human rights abuses, Dumasi community members have adopted accountability strategies that are moderately effective.