Stigma management: a counter-accounting of child labour and environmental issues in the mining sector

Purpose: Large mining companies are often subject to stigmatisation. Thus, these companies try to shift stigma to artisanal small-scale miners in stigma management. This study seeks to understand why and how these mining companies use corporate reporting in shifting stigma. 

Design/methodology/approach: This is a qualitative study that combines data collected from semi-structured interviews, focus group and secondary documents. 

Findings: The findings suggest that large mining companies involved in shifting stigma use corporate reporting to promote a positive image and avoid investor discrimination. Artisanal small-scale miners are targeted because of their vulnerability to stereotyping and discrimination. The findings suggest that mining companies shift stigma by blaming and shaming artisanal small-scale miners for child labour, human endangerment and environmental damage in reporting. The work of these miners is abnormalised as violating moral order. It is observed that the information provided in corporate reporting is often decontextualised from reality. 

Originality/value: This paper makes an original contribution to accounting studies by showing how corporate reporting is used in counter-accounting in the context of stigma management. Counter-accounting as a form of stigma management is operationalised through the blaming and shaming of artisanal small-scale miners.