Responsible extractivism and other tales. LinkedIn, feel good, and the politics of responsible mining on social media

Abstract

This article uses LinkedIn posts of responsible cobalt service providers to address the role of social media as a tool for corporate social responsibility. I argue that through written narrative, photographic practices, and knowledge production, these small companies assert their dominance on an industry that partly defines the transition to greener consumption. However, a close analysis of the discourses propagated via these mediums suggests that white supremacist, racist, and (post)colonial conceptions of African miners are reiterated and reproduced, largely preventing improvements in Congolese artisanal cobalt mines. Through invisibilization, fetishization, saviorism, and business development, these LinkedIn tales negate miners’ agencies. I illuminate a dual use of contrast in photographic content in the contrasting professionalization of white and African actors and using technical visual ratio and tones to legitimize and magnify their intended actions. Finally, I analyze the information grabbing through the control over information production and dissemination, with self-organized online events and participation in global and regional conferences as a system of othering of Congolese voices in favor of ‘feel good’ activities of service providers.’