An Introduction to Corporate Social Responsibility in the Extractive Industries

Many congratulations to the Board and staff of the Yale Human Rights & Development Law Journal for hosting this timely and important Symposium on Corporate Social Responsibility in the Extractive Industries, and for devoting this volume of the Journal to an in-depth analysis of the key issues addressed in the Symposium. This Preface is designed to paint a broad Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) backdrop for this special volume and to provide a context for the more detailed articles that follow. To that end, it defines the concept of CSR, particularly as it relates to the extractive industries, and identifies the primary business drivers behind it. In addition, this introduction highlights some of the key CSR issues facing the extractive industries today and in the coming years, and previews how the succeeding articles may help to resolve them.