Social license and the fear of Mineras Interruptus

Owen, John R.

doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2016.10.014

Cited by 72 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Sometimes conflicts turn into violent protests that spoil relations and make recovering trust difficult (Teschner, ). Conversely, Owen () considers that although the literature tends to infer the power of some communities in approving or rejecting mining operations, the reality is that not every community will be prepared to protest and push companies to take into account the social approach. According to Wright and Bice (), community capacity to influence SLO requires social cohesion among members of the community. A multitude of factors influence how SLO is achieved: Costanza () pointed out that companies can control some of the factors which influence obtaining SLO because they depend on company decisions, such as the decision to engage in the community and how to do it.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sometimes conflicts turn into violent protests that spoil relations and make recovering trust difficult (Teschner, 2013). Conversely, Owen (2016) considers that although the literature tends to infer the power of some communities in approving or rejecting mining operations, the reality is that not every community will be prepared to protest and push companies to take into account the social approach. According to Wright and Bice (2017), community capacity to influence SLO requires social cohesion among members of the community.…”

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confidence: 99%

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CEO letters: Social license to operate and community involvement in the mining industry

de‐Miguel‐Molina

Chirivella-González

García‐Ortega

2018

Business Ethics: A Eur Rev

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This paper aims to analyse how the discourse of CEO letters and other factors influence community involvement and Social Licence to Operate (SLO) in the mining industry. The analysis is based on qualitative information disclosed in sustainability reports and CEO letters from 32 mining firms. Content analysis was undertaken to obtain data for the study, and then a regression analysis and a multiple correspondence analysis were used to test the hypotheses defined in the study. The results indicate that the CEO discourse influences how a firm expresses the importance of gaining its SLO, the philanthropic activities in which companies become involved and the destinations of the investments in the communities in which they operate. The results also show changes in the discourse between 2011 and 2015, which are, in part, explained by the difficult situation experienced by the sector during this period. The paper contributes to the Corporate Social Responsibility literature by integrating different theories from this field into the SLO framework. The analysis carried out and the results obtained are useful for both CEOs and Sustainability Managers, especially in managing their relationships with the communities where they operate or intend to operate.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

CEO letters: Social license to operate and community involvement in the mining industry

de‐Miguel‐Molina

Chirivella-González

García‐Ortega

2018

Business Ethics: A Eur Rev

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“…Gaining a strong social license to operate (in other words, positive approval) requires the project to gain credibility and ultimately the trust of local people. Although there are criticisms of the concept [55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63], we believe that it is a useful rhetorical device that has taken hold in industry settings. Some international organizations, like the IFC [64], expect that projects have "broad community support".…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Conceptualizing Company Response to Community Protest: Principles to Achieve a Social License to Operate

Vanclay

Hanna

2019

Land

108

122

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To gain a social license to operate and grow, companies should have effective community engagement activities, social impact assessment processes, environmental and social impact management procedures, and human rights-compatible grievance redress mechanisms in place. In this way, environmental impacts and social impacts would likely be identified and addressed before issues escalate and social risk amplifies. Companies also need to treat communities with respect and be mindful of local culture. Where these things are not done, there will be no social license to operate. Protests are mechanisms by which affected communities express their concerns and signal there is no social license. As argued in our previous work on conceptualizing social protests, protests are warning signs, as well as opportunities for companies to improve. Rather than let protest actions escalate, leading to violent confrontation and considerable cost and harm, companies should engage in meaningful dialogue with protesters. Unfortunately, company response is often inadequate or inappropriate. In this paper, we identify around 175 actions companies might take in relation to community protest, and we discuss how these actions variously have the potential to escalate or de-escalate conflict, depending on whether the company engages in appropriate and genuine interaction with protesters or if repressive measures are used. While effective engagement will likely de-escalate conflict, ignoring or repressing protests tends to provoke stronger reactions from groups seeking to have their concerns heard. When companies address community concerns early, their social license to operate is enhanced. We also outline the primary international standards companies are expected to comply with, and we identify the key environmental, social, and governance issues (ESG principles) that should be respected.proactively undertake actions to address the issues of concern and reduce the likelihood of protest. In this paper, we examine the wide range of reactive and proactive actions companies might take in relation to community protest, and we reflect on how these actions might affect the level of conflict with their host communities and the company's and project's social license to operate.Companies need to consider their actions and reactions carefully. If company reaction leads to escalation, this increases the amount of community protest and/or changes the type of protest action, which could lead to harmful outcomes to the company and community. Furthermore, communities and individuals have rights, and should companies use repressive actions, companies run the risk of violating the rights of local people, which could lead to reputational harm and legal action against the company well into the future [5][6][7]. The many legal actions the oil company, Shell, has had to face because of its actions (and inaction) in Nigeria in the 1990s is proof of this [8]. The negative publicity surrounding conflict can be harmful to the company's reputation and social license to op...

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“…Kemp and Owen [3] highlight the significance of local-level relationships in resource development processes. These processes include strategies that prioritize local relationships to ensure continuity of access to land for operational purposes [23]. Mining companies maintain these relationships primarily through preferential recruitment and inclusion in supply chains, social investment, and routine stakeholder engagement.…”

Section: Qualitative Analyses and Resource Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatially Integrated Social Sciences with Qualitative GIS to Support Impact Assessment in Mining Communities

et al. 2019

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Spatially integrated social science is a broad term used to describe the integration of space and place in social science research using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). It includes qualitative GIS approaches, such as geo-ethnology and geo-narratives, which combine qualitative social data with GIS and represent an emerging approach with significant potential for facilitating new insights into the dynamic interactions between mining companies and host communities. Mine operations are unique in their complexity, both in terms of the dynamic and diverse nature of issues and the requirement to integrate knowledge, theories, and approaches from a range of disciplines. In this paper we describe the potential for spatially integrated social science using qualitative GIS to understand the social impacts of mining. We review current literature and propose a framework that incorporates quantitative and qualitative knowledge across social and biophysical domains within a multi-user approach. We provide examples to illustrate how our approach could support past, present, and future assessment of socio-environmental systems in large-scale mining. We conclude by discussing the need for a multi-disciplinary approach to support decision makers and local stakeholders in considering complex social and environmental scenarios.

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Social license and the fear of Mineras Interruptus

Cited by 72 publications

References 15 publications

CEO letters: Social license to operate and community involvement in the mining industry

CEO letters: Social license to operate and community involvement in the mining industry

Conceptualizing Company Response to Community Protest: Principles to Achieve a Social License to Operate

Spatially Integrated Social Sciences with Qualitative GIS to Support Impact Assessment in Mining Communities

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