ABSTRACT
An appreciation of the dynamics of relationships between different types of NGO within civil society is important for those companies pursuing enhanced systems for corporate accountability-and thereby seeking to consult with NGOs. Consequently, this chapter explores the effect of strategic NGO coalitions on their respective relationships with the business community. The focus is alliances between environmental NGOs (ENGOs) and indigenous rights NGOs (INGOs) in their dealings with mining companies. The relationship between these two types ofNGO is particularly intense in the developed world where both groups are seeking remediation and rehabilitation of past injustices. In this chapter I question the assumptive alliance between the green movement and the indigenous rights movement in negotiations with a corporation. Although engaged in strategic alliances to increase their negotiating power with the mining industry and governments, the evidence shows that NGOs do not always have a united and unifying agenda, and coalitions can actually marginalise the interests of certain constituencies in civil society.
