ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates the experiences of northern Komi communities regarding consultation and engagement prior to industrial activities carried out close to the communities and the areas that they depend on for their livelihoods. It introduces a relational justice approach to examine relational processes of community engagement in resource development, and describes the peculiarities of community engagement across northern Russia. The analysis of empirical data reveals the experiences of communities in Izhma and Usinsk districts during the planning and implementation of oil projects. In the literature on resource extraction and community–company relations, a justice lens is often used to scrutinise the outcomes of resource development. Indeed, in practice, meaningful community engagement requires a dynamic and relational process of facilitating communication, involvement and exchange between a community and an organisation in order to achieve specific social and organisational outcomes.
