One of the great drivers of globalisation has been corporations. Corporations are legal persons with all the rights of a human person. But of course they are not human or real persons. Real persons belong to cultures and social settings where they learn norms and values and the appropriate standards and practices that integrate them into a community. Corporations are not in this way culturally embedded. They belong to an a-cultural sphere shaped and created by them. They descend from this sphere into the cultures in which they work, but generally they don’t seek to integrate themselves. They act instead as delinquent members of the community. They speak a different language of corporate-speak and their sole objective is profit maximisation. In this sense they are invaders of cultural space and disruptors of indigenous values.
This potential can be vividly seen in Shell’s interactions with the community of north Mayo. Despite seven years of often bitter conflict, the project to develop the Corrib gas field off the Mayo coast first proposed in 2000 is almost entirely the same project as that proposed in 2007. Despite strenuous local opposition, despite the request that the gas be processed off-shore, the company has not acceded to local wishes and has proceeded regardless. This failure to genuinely listen and engage adds to the general imposition which this project represents for the community. The construction of the project, involving a removal of 500,000 tonnes of wet bog, constitutes a grave threat to the integrity of Carrowmore Lake, the local water supply for the area. The refinery and production pipelines give rise to a serious risk of accident. There is a lack of appropriate infrastructure to support such a project, such as roads, hospitals, fire services. The refinery will constantly emit substances to the air and water. Above all, the insertion of this huge 22-acre building into a totally agricultural and scenic area will fundamentally change its character.
On top of this, in a classic example of contemporary corporate-led globalisation, no significant benefits will arise for the community or the State. Security of supply? No, because most Irish gas comes from the North Sea and there is no medium term threat to the continuity of those supplies. Lower cost? No, the price of gas is determined by global market forces and Corrib will be purchased at full market price. Are there significant financial benefits to the State? Again no. No royalties are being extracted, no equity share taken, no windfall tax levied. All exploration and development costs can be written off against tax at 100% from year one. Thus very little financial benefit will arise. Might there be jobs from the project? Minimal, other than in the short-term construction of the plant. Once the plant is operational only fifty jobs will be needed. The companies are not obliged to employ Irish workers on their exploration rigs nor do they have to source their supplies from Ireland.
The real beneficiaries are Norway (because of Statoil’s involvement), Scotland (where the bulk of the industry’s supplies are sourced) and the shareholders of Shell and Marathon.
There is something clearly wrong here. The companies involved – because they are global corporations hardwired for profit maximisation – are not part of the community they are using. The resistance of the local people is merely another case throughout the world of people fighting back to sustain their own selves and their own place.
Mark Garavan © 2007 |
