Violent conflicts in Sudan, especially those in Darfur in the early years of the new century, led state and non-state actors in the United States to exert heightened pressure on companies to divest from Sudan, or to prove that their activities in that country do not contribute to the conflicts. In this case study of La Mancha, a company involved in a gold mining joint venture in Sudan from 2006 to 2015, I examine whether and how it reacted publicly to this pressure. I trace how corporate social responsibility (CSR) for the continuation of harm-production was treated in its public statements, what conceptual gaps are perceptible in these statements, and how they were (re)produced in US-based activist circles. On this basis, I highlight the selective acknowledgement of responsibility which is based on assessments of harm-production by external actors excluding those directly affected by it. More generally, the case study relates to debates on CSR in Africa's extractive industries, especially within the frame of complex business structures involving both state actors and foreign investors that make it difficult and nonetheless urgent to identify units of responsibility. I suggest that a communication disconnect during the process of identification can be adequately approached through a conceptualisation of this process as an “arena” of actors who relate to a common issue but not necessarily to each other.

中文翻译：

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苏丹工业黄金开采、企业社会责任和危害生产的国际合资企业

苏丹的暴力冲突，特别是新世纪初期达尔富尔的暴力冲突，导致美国的国家和非国家行为者向公司施加更大的压力，要求他们从苏丹撤资，或者证明他们在该国的活动确实存在不助长冲突。在 La Mancha 的案例研究中，该公司于 2006 年至 2015 年参与了苏丹的一家金矿合资企业，我研究了它是否以及如何公开应对这种压力。我追溯了在其公开声明中如何处理持续伤害生产的企业社会责任 (CSR)，在这些声明中可以察觉到哪些概念差距，以及它们是如何在美国激进主义者圈子中（重新）产生的。以这个为基础，我强调对责任的选择性承认，这是基于外部行为者（不包括直接受其影响的人）对危害产生的评估。更一般地说，案例研究涉及关于非洲采掘业企业社会责任的辩论，特别是在涉及国家行为者和外国投资者的复杂业务结构框架内，这使得确定责任单位变得困难且紧迫。我建议，可以通过将此过程概念化为与共同问题相关但不一定彼此相关的参与者的“舞台”，来充分处理识别过程中的沟通中断。特别是在涉及国家行为者和外国投资者的复杂业务结构框架内，这使得确定责任单位变得困难而紧迫。我建议，可以通过将此过程概念化为与共同问题相关但不一定彼此相关的参与者的“舞台”，来充分处理识别过程中的沟通中断。特别是在涉及国家行为者和外国投资者的复杂业务结构框架内，这使得确定责任单位变得困难而紧迫。我建议，可以通过将此过程概念化为与共同问题相关但不一定彼此相关的参与者的“舞台”，来充分处理识别过程中的沟通中断。