Neglected Transportation Infrastructure: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Russian State in a Small Siberian Oil Town

Gertrude Saxinger; Natalia Krasnoshtanova; Gertraud Illmeier

doi:10.3167/sib.2021.200302

Neglected Transportation Infrastructure: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Russian State in a Small Siberian Oil Town

Gertrude Saxinger, Natalia Krasnoshtanova, Gertraud Illmeier

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Abstract

Verkhnemarkovo, a small Siberian town located on an oil field in Russia's Irkutsk region, is plagued by bad roads and limited mobility. This article explores the relationship between corporate social responsibility and the wellbeing of individuals and communities, with a focus on transport and mobility infrastructure. Some oil companies, such as Irkutsk Oil Company, are tied to the sustainability standards of international financial institutions. The article addresses the question of why people are in limbo between the state and local operating oil companies. Contemporary life in Verkhnemarkovo is characterized by so-called infrastructural violence, which results from the lack of state support—or false promises made by the state— and relates to good transport infrastructure. In their complaints, local people recall the Soviet past and expect support from the state or industry.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-45
Number of pages	45
Journal	Sibirica
Volume	20
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3167/sib.2021.200302
Publication status	Published - Dec 2021

Funding

This research was funded and carried out in the framework of the following research projects between 2014 and 2018: CoRe Configurations of Remoteness: Entanglements of Humans and Transportation Infrastructure in the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) Region, University of Vienna (Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [P 27625]) and the research project "Innovative development, territorial organization, and quality of life improvements for the population of the Siberian and Arctic regions of Russia" funded by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research [#16-02-00570(a)]. CoRe is collaborating with the Sochava Institute for Geography at the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Irkutsk and the Austrian Polar Research Institute APRI. One field trip has been funded by the Trust for Mutual Understanding Foundation. We thank the generous people and interview partners-including the mayor Konstantin V. Vlasov-in Verkhnemarkovo, the district administration of Ust'-Kut and INK for their hospitality and sharing their information and viewpoints. In particular, we dedicate this publication to the late Aleksey, our good friend and informant, who passed away too early. We thank Emma Wilson and the anonymous reviewers as well as Sibirica editor Jenanne Ferguson for excellent commenting and editing.

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

504017 Cultural anthropology
507015 Regional research
506010 Policy analysis

Keywords

corporate social responsibility
infrastructural violence
mobility
oil industry
Siberia
sustainability
transportation infrastructure
wellbeing
social licence
Transportation infrastructure
Mobility
Wellbeing
Oil industry
Corporate social responsibility
Sustainability
Infrastructural violence

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.3167/sib.2021.200302Licence: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:1596499Licence: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Cite this

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title = "Neglected Transportation Infrastructure: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Russian State in a Small Siberian Oil Town",

abstract = "Verkhnemarkovo, a small Siberian town located on an oil field in Russia's Irkutsk region, is plagued by bad roads and limited mobility. This article explores the relationship between corporate social responsibility and the wellbeing of individuals and communities, with a focus on transport and mobility infrastructure. Some oil companies, such as Irkutsk Oil Company, are tied to the sustainability standards of international financial institutions. The article addresses the question of why people are in limbo between the state and local operating oil companies. Contemporary life in Verkhnemarkovo is characterized by so-called infrastructural violence, which results from the lack of state support—or false promises made by the state— and relates to good transport infrastructure. In their complaints, local people recall the Soviet past and expect support from the state or industry.",

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Neglected Transportation Infrastructure: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Russian State in a Small Siberian Oil Town

Abstract

Funding

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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