Redesigning CSR Governance for Sustainable Mining: A Critical Dialogic Accountability Approach from Malawi

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) plays an important role in advancing sustainable development in extractive industries, yet CSR governance in many emerging economies remains dominated by disclosure-oriented approaches that provide limited opportunities for meaningful stakeholder participation and accountability. This study examines how Critical Dialogic Accountability (CDA) can be operationalised to redesign CSR policy formulation and implementation in Malawi’s mining sector, shifting governance from procedural compliance towards accountability-based and inclusive decision-making. A qualitative comparative case study approach draws on 28 semi-structured interviews, six focus groups, and documentary analysis of licensing conditions, Community Development Agreements, environmental and social planning documents, and industry governance records, including the Mines and Minerals Act (No. 25 of 2023) and Malawi EITI reporting. The findings reveal that although participation and transparency mechanisms formally exist, they are frequently characterised by constrained dialogue, fragmented accountability relationships, weak enforcement pathways, and limited stakeholder influence over policy outcomes. The study proposes CDA-informed mechanisms—co-designed deliberative forums, enforceable dialogic standards, stakeholder-centred monitoring systems, and co-produced accountability metrics—and argues that they have the potential to strengthen inclusiveness, responsiveness, transparency, and accountability throughout the CSR policy cycle. The paper extends CDA beyond reporting to CSR policy design and implementation, offering a transferable analytical framework for sustainable, equitable, and accountable resource governance in mining-dependent emerging economies.