Extractives Companies’ Social Media Portrayals of Their Funding of Sport for Development in Indigenous Communities in Canada and Australia

Abstract

The extractives industry (mining, quarrying, oil, and gas) engages in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities to reinforce its organizational legitimacy and enhance its public image. One such approach to CSR that is popular in the industry is through funding sport initiatives aimed at improving the lives of Indigenous peoples, known as sport for development (SFD). Through the adoption of a settler colonial studies lens, and using netnographic methods and discourse analysis, we examined how three extractives companies portray their funding of SFD in Indigenous communities in Canada and Australia on social media, and the ways in which it contributes to settler colonialism. We determined that there are two main discourses that extractive companies use: i) Extractives companies “help” and “partner” with Indigenous communities to enable Indigenous youth’s access to the transformative power of sport; ii) longevity is strategically associated with such “help” and “partnership.” The production of these discourses enables extractives companies to downplay their contributions to settler colonialism through land denigration and colonial authority.

Introducing mobile learning in sport management education: Exploring gender differences in Pinterest usage

“…For instance, social media can be used to interact with stakeholders, 14 enhance fan engagement and community, 15 build athlete brands, 16 leverage sponsorship opportunities, 17 and amplify corporate social responsibility actions. 18 Due to their increasing relevance in the sports industry, sports employers now require that future managers possess digital skills and are competent at using social media for professional purposes. 19 Regardless of these realities, the pedagogical inclusion of social media in sport management education courses remains limited, despite existing literature that has shown the positive effects of social media inclusion in the classroom.…”