Bringing Shell and Friends of the Earth on stage: A one-act spectacle of oil spills in the Niger Delta

Publication Name

Critical Perspectives on Accounting

Abstract

This paper explores the spectacle of oil spills in the Niger Delta as a controversial dialogue between Royal Dutch Shell plc and the civil-society organization Friends of the Earth International (FoE). Using the theater metaphor, we create a one-act play as a spectacular production of dialogic engagement between Shell's corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports and an FoE shadow account. The paper reveals CSR practices as a contemporary manifestation of a disclosure spectacle, and shadow accounts as resistance in the form of parody. The study contributes to the theorizing of spectacle and adds to the discussion of resistance as a political act.

Volume

85

Article Number

102264

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2020.102264