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Multinational corporations in violent conflict: a case study of firestone in Liberia
The First Liberian Civil War began with an insurgency led by Charles Taylor on Christmas Eve in 1989. At the time, the company Firestone Liberia (one of many of the subsidiaries of the multinational, Bridgestone Corporation) had been operating the world’s largest rubber plantati...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Political Studies
2019
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| _version_ | 1867611352245207040 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Gough, Rebecca |
| author2 | Seegers, Annette |
| author_browse | Gough, Rebecca Seegers, Annette |
| author_facet | Seegers, Annette Gough, Rebecca |
| author_sort | Gough, Rebecca |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | The First Liberian Civil War began with an insurgency led by Charles Taylor on Christmas Eve in 1989. At the time, the company Firestone Liberia (one of many of the subsidiaries of the multinational, Bridgestone Corporation) had been operating the world’s largest rubber plantation in Liberia’s Margibi County for over six decades. Over the course of three years, Firestone engaged with various actors in the Liberian conflict theatre in order to continue operating its rubber plantation. The most notable of these actors was the warlord, Charles Taylor, a relationship for which Firestone Liberia has received much criticism. This case study is situated within the broader debate on the role of multinational corporations in host countries that descend into conflict. The
existing literature on the topic exposes a potentially ambivalent role for private actors as either catalysts for aggravating conflict dynamics or promoters of peace within conflict zones. This research contends that insufficient attention has been paid to understanding the minutiae of corporate behaviour in contemporary conflict and that more in-depth low-n case studies are required before prescribing a positive role for companies in conflict zones. The findings of this paper reveal the importance of accounting for variables, such as conflict characteristics and geo-economic and geopolitical conditions, and how these limit the agency of private actors in situations of violent conflict. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/30510 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publishDateRange | 2019 |
| publishDateSort | 2019 |
| publisher | Department of Political Studies |
| publisherStr | Department of Political Studies |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/30510 Multinational corporations in violent conflict: a case study of firestone in Liberia Gough, Rebecca Seegers, Annette International Relations The First Liberian Civil War began with an insurgency led by Charles Taylor on Christmas Eve in 1989. At the time, the company Firestone Liberia (one of many of the subsidiaries of the multinational, Bridgestone Corporation) had been operating the world’s largest rubber plantation in Liberia’s Margibi County for over six decades. Over the course of three years, Firestone engaged with various actors in the Liberian conflict theatre in order to continue operating its rubber plantation. The most notable of these actors was the warlord, Charles Taylor, a relationship for which Firestone Liberia has received much criticism. This case study is situated within the broader debate on the role of multinational corporations in host countries that descend into conflict. The existing literature on the topic exposes a potentially ambivalent role for private actors as either catalysts for aggravating conflict dynamics or promoters of peace within conflict zones. This research contends that insufficient attention has been paid to understanding the minutiae of corporate behaviour in contemporary conflict and that more in-depth low-n case studies are required before prescribing a positive role for companies in conflict zones. The findings of this paper reveal the importance of accounting for variables, such as conflict characteristics and geo-economic and geopolitical conditions, and how these limit the agency of private actors in situations of violent conflict. 2019-08-23T14:56:25Z 2019-08-23T14:56:25Z 2019 2019-08-23T09:48:15Z Master Thesis Masters Master of Social Science http://hdl.handle.net/11427/30510 eng application/pdf Department of Political Studies Faculty of Humanities |
| spellingShingle | International Relations Gough, Rebecca Multinational corporations in violent conflict: a case study of firestone in Liberia |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Multinational corporations in violent conflict: a case study of firestone in Liberia |
| title_full | Multinational corporations in violent conflict: a case study of firestone in Liberia |
| title_fullStr | Multinational corporations in violent conflict: a case study of firestone in Liberia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Multinational corporations in violent conflict: a case study of firestone in Liberia |
| title_short | Multinational corporations in violent conflict: a case study of firestone in Liberia |
| title_sort | multinational corporations in violent conflict a case study of firestone in liberia |
| topic | International Relations |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/30510 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT goughrebecca multinationalcorporationsinviolentconflictacasestudyoffirestoneinliberia |