This thesis offers an investigation of the indigenous politics of self-determination in the Peruvian Amazon. The starting point of the analysis is the ‘Baguazo’, a massive indigenous protest (June 2009) against governmental laws that favoured extractive industries within indigenous territories. Studies of indigenous peoples’ opposition to extractive industries in Peru have tended to focus on the economic, political or social aspects as if these were discrete dimensions of the conflict. This thesis aims to contribute with an integral and systematic understanding of indigenous resistance to extractive industries through a case study analysis and a multidisciplinary theoretical proposal. The thesis contains 9 chapters: introduction (Chapter 1); theoretical framework (Chapters 2, 3 and 4); methodology (Chapter 5); case study analysis and discussion (Chapters 6, 7, and 8); and conclusion (Chapter 9). The theoretical chapters explain how liberal legality recognises indigenous peoples as ethnic minorities with property entitlements, while self-determination goes a step further to recognise indigenous peoples as ‘nations’ with ‘territorial rights’. The case study chapters explore the struggle of the Awajun indigenous people for self-determination and examine the legal and political consequences of the Baguazo as well as the re-emergence of indigenous politics in Peru. The main argument provided in this thesis is that indigenous territorial defence against extractive industries expresses a politics of self-determination that confronts coloniality as the foundation of the extractive governance. Coloniality denotes that, even though colonial rule ended in formal political terms, power remains distributed according to colonial ontology and epistemology. Consequently, social and economic relationships regarding indigenous peoples still respond to an inclusion/exclusion paradox: indigenous peoples are either excluded from liberal capitalism or included into it under conditions that deny indigenous peoples’ principles. Thus, the struggle for self-determination locates many indigenous people beyond the inclusion/exclusion dialectic and promotes an extension of ‘the political’ with the aim of reconfiguring the state-form and its political economy.

During the late 20th Century the mining industry went through an important technological rejuvenation that drove high rates of innovation, productivity growth and organisational change. This process included the emergence of knowledge-intensive mining services (KIMS) suppliers, who performed functions outsourced by mining companies, gradually strengthening their capabilities, enlarging their geographical scope and becoming a globally organised sector. But this was uneven across different mining economies. For instance, while numerous Australian KIMS suppliers emerged and achieved international competitiveness, few did this in Chile. Focusing on Chile, this thesis explores the reasons for the limited development of KIMS suppliers in a developing mining economy. It examines the technological learning that shaped the KIMS sector evolution in Chile by contrasting it with the Australian experience, using a two level learning model that integrates: (1) the interaction between industry-level factors that shaped the potential for learning at the micro-level; and (2) the interaction at the micro-level between accumulated capabilities and learning efforts by firms to exploit the potential for learning. KIMS learning is examined over four stages: (i) Gestation (1940s - early 1970s); (ii) Emergence and Development (mid-1970s to early 1980s); (iii) Internationalisation (late 1980s to late 1990s); and (iv) Consolidation (early 2000s and still going on). Over these stages, KIMS sector learning was much more limited in Chile than Australia, either because there was a lower learning potential and/or because firms carried out limited learning efforts to exploit the potential. At the first stage mining companies in Chile played a weak role as incubators of KIMS capabilities. Consequently, during the second stage there were few KIMS suppliers capable of profiting from the rejuvenation being experienced by the global industry. Also, with limited stimuli from the growth of mining in Chile, suppliers undertook limited learning efforts. So, the third stage found Chilean KIMS suppliers unprepared to exploit the learning potential that came with internationalisation; and the learning opportunities inherent in the significant expansion of Chilean mining production were captured by foreign KIMS suppliers, including Australians. Accordingly, Chilean KIMS suppliers started the Consolidation Stage without the capabilities to overcome the increasing barriers to participation in the industry‟s continuing high learning potential.

This study aims to discuss the changing hegemonic struggles among the state, business and NGOs in the development of environmental governance of China's rare earth industry. Although rare earths are indispensable to myriad clean technologies, mining and processing rare earth ores cause heavy pollution. As the world's largest supplier, China's rare earth industry has developed at huge environmental cost. Environmental pollution in the upstream supply chains of the high-tech and new-energy industries becomes one of the most thorny issues in China's environmental governance. With the critical reviews on the varieties of capitalism approach and the neo-Gramscian governance studies, the study proposes a neo-Gramscian perspective on varieties of environmental governance, through merging a macro-level analysis of institutional diversity with a micro-level understanding of Gramscian hegemonic struggles. In line with an interpretivist stance, the study employs a qualitative case study approach to investigate the institutional variations of the state in China's varieties of governance from a planned economy to a market economy and the changing hegemonic struggles involved, with consideration of the complex historical trajectories and distinctive political economies in China. Based on the empirical evidence collected via semi-structured interviews and documentary reviews, the study carries out a critical discourse analysis to discuss a series of contested environmental issues in China's rare earth industry. Empirical findings conclude that the genres of China's varieties of governance have been transformed from highly prescriptive planning to government supervision, and the state still plays a leading role in regulating and coordinating contemporary alliance building. The study enriches the abstract VoC typologies with China's institutional diversity; extends the Gramsci framework to China‟s regime with particular emphasis of state power; provides a more plural and dynamic understanding of the hegemonic struggles within China's varieties of governance.

This thesis analyses foreign intervention in oil-rich African states which have contributed to the resource curse problem in the latter. It concentrates on the role of former colonial powers-France and Britain-as well as new players-the United States, China and multinational agencies who have deployed policies and carried out practices in securing Africa’s oil resources. This study argues that ‘Foreign intervention contributes to the likelihood of the resource curse through both political and economic means,’ based mainly on the resource curse theory and concept of neo-colonialism. Apart from factors addressed by the existing literature on the resource curse, namely, economic malfunctions, government policies, social foundations, resource types, country size and initial conditions, this research hypothesizes that foreign interventions display a strong linkage to the resource curse. African countries have experienced poverty and conflicts even if they have had the greatest dosages of foreign interventions from the slave trade through to the present date, as explained by neocolonialism. This is contrast to the neo-liberal economists which promote foreign interventions and resource exploitation which they argue are necessary for African economic and political development. This study includes two theoretical approaches which address the relationship between continuing foreign intervention and the resource curse in Africa: neo-Marxism and realism. Marxist dialectical materialism allows us to look back over the history of the relations between Africa and foreign powers both materially and in regard to how these relations, time and again, affect and shape Africa’s structure. By discussing the ‘world order’ in terms of production structure that leads to exploitation, oppression, enslavement and the struggles of the lower social classes in weaker states, Marxist perspectives shed light on the relationship between foreign interventions and Africa’s underperformance. With realist main assumptions of power and profits maximization, this study explains that foreign interventions in African oil-rich countries will be maintained and will intensify as global situations surrounding oil become more hostile. I offer to use these theories to explain specific policies and practices of foreign interventions with relation to the African oil industries. The foreign powers involved in the interventions for Africa’s oil, the mechanism through which they are carried out and the outcomes of these actions are neither addressed nor evaluated in these theories. Although the abovementioned Marxist strands indicate that neo-colonialism will contribute to poor performance in Africa, it does not relate to the resource curse discussion which mainly assumes that resource-rich countries are doomed to fail. This is the gap which this study has filled by linking these theories to real-world practices. By applying the concept of neo-colonialism, this study compiles the empirical evidence of continuing interventions by former colonial powers and new powers as they seek oil security in African states. The result of this study is that oil-related foreign intervention is linked to the resource curse discussion. In effect, the resource curse theory is refined by stating that a foreign intervention variable must be included into its discussion and policy considerations. This study records oil-related incidents of foreign interventions in Africa and systematically categorizes oil-related foreign interventions using political and economic approaches. Foreign political interventions include the balkanization of Africa, the use of state policies, political meddling and military involvement. Economic approaches used by foreign players to secure African oil are categorized into two central themes: financial involvement and business conduct. The former refers to the following practices: neo-liberal policies, petrodollar monetary order, economic sanctions, financial support and money corruption. With regards to business conduct, the following practices will be investigated: circumventing environmental standards, enclave oil operations and unsuitable philanthropic projects. This study examines these interventions from the first scramble in Africa during the colonial era, through to the second scramble during the Cold War and the current scramble of Africa’s resources. The study displays these occurrences in any oil-rich African countries including Angola, Sudan, Libya, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. A specific case study is devoted for Nigeria which is the biggest oil-rich African countries but paradoxically experiences endemic poverty and conflicts. Primary data and interviews conducted in the Niger Delta, Lagos, Cape Town, and London are used extensively.

This thesis explores the complex voices of militants, associated with the capture of oil resources in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The persistent violent conflict involving militant groups in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria is a major concern for many within the country and the international community. Understanding the conflict in the Niger Delta has triggered a wide range of discussions and debates among researchers, politicians and policy makers. However, these debates have overlooked the views of the militants, who are actively engaged in the conflict over resource governance in the region. Moreover the ideology of self-determination and resource control, which these militants use to legitimise their actions, seem to generate different meanings and labelling that tend to cloud an understandings of the conflict in the region. In this thesis, I adopt the theoretical assumptions of the New Social Movement literature and the epistemological views of the Interpretivist Social Constructionist approach to explore (a) what features shaped the emergence of militancy and its diverse forms (b) how do militias make sense of their role as militants? (c) how does the role of militias impact on the politics of oil governance in the Niger Delta? I argue that militia actions that appear to challenge the legitimacy and authority of the Nigerian state to control oil resources, are embedded in complex webs involving formal and informal interactions of political elites and militia leaders. From analysis of this research, key dominant concepts such as Identity, opportunism and competition, emerged to give insight as to why and how militancy has become significant in the region.

Business practitioners, policy makers and the media have been engaged in ongoing discussions and practical initiatives towards organisational culture management. This is in spite of the range of complexities that academics have identified relating to the viability of managing organisational culture. Previous academic studies on organisational culture management, in view of these complexities, have focused mainly on analysing internal factors and intricacies in the process of culture management. This has resulted in culture change or stability outcomes. In addition, most of these studies based their analyses within Western organisational context with very few studies on organisational culture management in developing economies, especially in Africa. This thesis extends the literature on organisational culture management with a focus on analysing the influence of an external factor on attempts towards managing organisational culture. Using a single case study approach, the study analyses an overlooked research context of an African organisation, exploring the relationship context between a Nigerian oil and gas company (undergoing a culture management at the time of the study) and its host communities (external factor) in the Niger Delta region. The study draws on Perrault et al. (2011) stakeholder tetrad as a stakeholder theoretical lens to analyse host community stakeholders and their relationship with the case organisation. It then examines the implications of this relationship context towards attempts to manage an ethical culture in the organisation. The findings, drawn from a qualitative research (2014-2016), indicate that organisational-external environment context, with strong ties on power and exchange relationships, would influence attempts of executives to manage organisational culture that is alien to ambient society. The study offers contributions to knowledge on organisational culture management by introducing a stakeholder theoretical lens to explore external and internal stakeholders of organisations in order to evaluate the implications of internal-external relationship on culture management. The study also contributes to stakeholder management studies by developing Perrault et al. (2011) stakeholder tetrad, particularly the stakeholder tactic construct; and contributes to African management and organisation studies by highlighting the aspect of adaptation relationship practices, a combination of international and local expectations and cultures. Further theoretical and practical contributions and implications of this study are discussed in the concluding chapter.

The underground hard rock mining industry in South Africa is faced with the challenge of simultaneously delivering both safety and productivity excellence. Frontline supervisors need to manage the inherent trade-off between safety and productivity to achieve excellence in both. Previous research suggests that supervisors with a transformational leadership style have delivered safety and productivity in separate studies. This study examined the relationship between the transformational leadership style of underground mining supervisors at Impala and the simultaneous delivery of both safety and productivity. It also investigated the mediating effect of group safety climate on the relationship between transformational leadership and injury rate, and the mediating effect of group cohesiveness on the relationship between transformational leadership and productivity. The relationship between transformational leadership and the perception of leader effectiveness was also investigated in the study context. The research design was a case study using mixed methods in the form of a sequential explanatory design. In the first quantitative main phase of the study, survey questionnaires were completed by respondents to determine the leadership style of the mine overseers who were the unit of analysis. Data was also collected using survey questionnaires for group safety climate and group cohesiveness. The injury rate and productivity data for the mine overseer sections was recorded for a one year period prior to the survey. In the second qualitative phase of the study selected mine overseers were interviewed and a focus group of mine overseers was conducted. Also, underground observations were carried out and documents were scrutinised. The focus of the qualitative research was to interpret and explain the results that were obtained in the quantitative first phase of the study. The results indicate that transformational leadership is related to the perception of supervisors’ effectiveness. This relationship is partially mediated by group safety climate and group cohesiveness. The relationship between transformational leadership and the objective measures of injury vi rate and productivity were not supported in the quantitative results. This may indicate that these measures were too narrow to determine supervisors’ leadership effectiveness, and/or were contaminated by confounding variables as was suggested in the qualitative phase of the study. The qualitative findings indicated that supervisors’ perception was that transformational leadership style is effective in delivering safety and productivity excellence. The overall conclusion of this study is that in the context of Impala or similar operations, that the effective supervisor should employ the full range of leadership. This behaviour includes maintaining discipline and using contingent reward to motivate the achievement of goals. The effective supervisor also uses the transformational leadership style giving meaning to work and creating a feeling of team membership. Transformational leadership inspires the diverse workforce to deliver safety and productivity excellence in the difficult and risky mining conditions. Furthermore, supervisors’ behaviour is greatly influenced by management’s priorities. / Business Management / D. B. L.

The underground hard rock mining industry in South Africa is faced with the challenge of simultaneously delivering both safety and productivity excellence. Frontline supervisors need to manage the inherent trade-off between safety and productivity to achieve excellence in both. Previous research suggests that supervisors with a transformational leadership style have delivered safety and productivity in separate studies. This study examined the relationship between the transformational leadership style of underground mining supervisors at Impala and the simultaneous delivery of both safety and productivity. It also investigated the mediating effect of group safety climate on the relationship between transformational leadership and injury rate, and the mediating effect of group cohesiveness on the relationship between transformational leadership and productivity. The relationship between transformational leadership and the perception of leader effectiveness was also investigated in the study context. The research design was a case study using mixed methods in the form of a sequential explanatory design. In the first quantitative main phase of the study, survey questionnaires were completed by respondents to determine the leadership style of the mine overseers who were the unit of analysis. Data was also collected using survey questionnaires for group safety climate and group cohesiveness. The injury rate and productivity data for the mine overseer sections was recorded for a one year period prior to the survey. In the second qualitative phase of the study selected mine overseers were interviewed and a focus group of mine overseers was conducted. Also, underground observations were carried out and documents were scrutinised. The focus of the qualitative research was to interpret and explain the results that were obtained in the quantitative first phase of the study. The results indicate that transformational leadership is related to the perception of supervisors’ effectiveness. This relationship is partially mediated by group safety climate and group cohesiveness. The relationship between transformational leadership and the objective measures of injury vi rate and productivity were not supported in the quantitative results. This may indicate that these measures were too narrow to determine supervisors’ leadership effectiveness, and/or were contaminated by confounding variables as was suggested in the qualitative phase of the study. The qualitative findings indicated that supervisors’ perception was that transformational leadership style is effective in delivering safety and productivity excellence. The overall conclusion of this study is that in the context of Impala or similar operations, that the effective supervisor should employ the full range of leadership. This behaviour includes maintaining discipline and using contingent reward to motivate the achievement of goals. The effective supervisor also uses the transformational leadership style giving meaning to work and creating a feeling of team membership. Transformational leadership inspires the diverse workforce to deliver safety and productivity excellence in the difficult and risky mining conditions. Furthermore, supervisors’ behaviour is greatly influenced by management’s priorities. / Business Management / D. B. L.

Oil resources are the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy, but also a major source of affliction to the village communities in which they are located. This study uses the oil village communities in Nigeria, with particular focus on Delta state. It seeks to explore the extent to which the presence of oil fuels violent conflicts in these village communities, and how the moulding of socio-economic and political structures in local oil village communities by the presence of oil resources gives rise to economic opportunism and grievance characteristics. The research employs a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews, FGD and documentary sources to collect and analyse data for the study. It adopts structural conflict theory as the anchor theory of the research, with the support of environmental scarcity theory and greed vs. grievance theory for the analysis and interpretation of data. The research also applies micro-level analysis and non-state perspectives, which is a deviation from previous studies, which have applied macro-level analysis and state-centric perspectives in exploring oil resource conflicts. With literature positing that behaviours such as rent seeking, greed and the pursuit of grievances arise in many oil abundant states, the research demonstrates that oil resources fuel violent conflicts in oil village communities through the changes it brings to local socio-economic conditions: changes such as poverty, unemployment and land struggle; and changes from traditional power structures to new ones in which there are fierce struggles for power, arising out of the need people feel for access to oil opportunities and benefits.

This doctoral thesis presents a critical analysis of the global debate on the ‘good governance’ of the extractive resources sectors. Its starting point is that over the past decade this debate has seen a remarkable elevation, while at the same time the governance concept itself has been subjected to critique. To understand how the sector-focused ‘good governance’ agenda compares against this critique, the thesis uses a conceptual framework that identifies the different uses of this concept. Against this background, it reviews the main scholarly debates on the opportunities and challenges of countries producing extractive resources and identifies four critical questions, which it then sets out to answer. The main argument is that the global debate on the ‘good governance’ of the extractive resources sectors has been built on the widely endorsed conclusion that ‘good institutions’ make for better outcomes and that therefore producer countries need to improve their sector institutions. However, this seemingly obvious conclusion has ignored the complexity and confusion around ‘governance’ and ‘institutions’ that prevails across the broader social science literature. This argument is based on the answers the thesis provides to four critical questions: what are institutions; how do institutions change; how are they enforced; and do existing institutions matter for the design of interventions aimed at improving institutions. The thesis lays open that the policy conclusions of the global debate are premised on the dominance of a particular reference point paired with a particular methodology where the emphasis has been on, first, identifying the types of institutions that have apparently led to desired results, and then to promote these as a means to steer towards these results. It concludes that this focus has premised the global agenda on a false sense of clarity on what producer countries ought to be improving.