Abstract:
The pilot coal gasification project of the Luksic Group S.A is based on the so-called energy crisis of the Chilean neoliberal model of extraction of natural resources and on values reflected in a campaign of corporate social responsibility in the XIV Los Ríos Region, Chile. The techno-scientific model implicit in this project was approved by the environmental institutions, limiting the participation of rural and / or indigenous groups. That is, the ecological and socio-cultural dimensions of the development of these communities were not included, causing a socio-environmental conflict in the area. Using a case study methodology, this study collected via focus groups, semi-structured interviews and participant observation, key information regarding the company social discourse deployed in the town of Mulpun and surroundings. From this qualitative analysis, the concept of greenwashing emerges as a way to understand the discourse employed by the mining company. Finally, this concept engages in a theoretical discussion that takes into account the multidimensional factors implicit in this conflict and that may serve as final considerations for the study of greenwashing in other cases of socio-environmental conflict.