When sorry is not an option: CSR reporting and “face work” in a stigmatised industry – A case study of Barrick (Acacia) gold mine in Tanzania

CITATION

Lauwo, S., Kyriacou, O., & Julius Otusanya, O. (2019). When sorry is not an option: CSR reporting and “face work” in a stigmatised industry – A case study of Barrick (Acacia) gold mine in Tanzania. Critical Perspectives on Accounting.

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ABSTRACT
This paper investigates how a stigmatised company mobilised accounting, particularly CSR
reporting, to manage a crisis of legitimacy and spoiled identity following a series of social
and environmental crises. Specifically, it uses Goffman’s (1959, 1963) writings on stigma
and presentation of self and Benoit’s (1995) image restoration theory to explore how a
large mining company in Tanzania used various strategic responses in striving to
distance and dissociate itself from the attached ‘stigma’. The evidence shows that, in
response to attacks from pressure-group organisations, rather than apologising for the
social and environmental crises, the company was preocupied with ‘defensive stigma
management’ strategies, including denial and refocusing attention, evading
responsibility, image bolstering, excuses and dissociation. Drawing on our findings, we
argue that, rather than making the effects of stigma more visible, accounting and CSR
disclosures were mobilised to conceal the threats of stigma, manage the legitimacy crisis
and repair spoiled identity. This study moves beyond the current focus on legitimacy in
the extant CSR reporting literature, by bringing in the concept of organisational stigma to
examine stigma management strategies implemented by a company operating in a
stigmatised industry to avoid, reduce or minimise its audiences’ disapproval.


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