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This paper aims to consider the development of corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects by Catoca, a diamond mining company in Angola, along with the effectiveness of these projects, and the benefits to stakeholders.

The research method used was direct observation and semi-structured interview with executives and administrative employees of the company, and collaborators of CSR projects, during 2010, 2011 and 2012. We also analyse documents about CSR projects developed by Catoca and identify the challenges faced.

The management of CSR projects is hampered by the low disclosure of results and the absence of social indicators. This may generate inadequate results compared to investment. The assumption of low stakeholder expectation and the absence of social indicators may lead to neo-philanthropic or preconceived actions that ignore local peculiarities.

This study is limited to one company, and the lack of social indicators means it is difficult to evaluate the reported results.

This paper improves understanding of the challenges involved in CSR projects in Africa and may also be useful for companies that develop CSR projects, drawing attention to issues that could compromise the proper use of resources and hamper results.

This study considers Angola, which is using its natural resources to boost economic and social development, establish partnerships with foreign companies and encourage the development of CSR programmes which often end up filling gaps left by the absence of government action.

This study contributes to the largely under-researched area of CSR projects in Angola.

We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.