From metaphor to political spin: Understanding criticisms of the social licence

Abstract

Disagreements about the nature and utility of the social licence concept can be traced to different assumptions about the political influence of those who grant and receive it. In business, some see the social licence as a risk management framework. Critics claim that in practice it is public relations spin covering up social irresponsibility by extractive companies. Still others see it as spin used by eco-leftists to justify appropriating a veto for themselves. I review the literature on social licence grantors and grantees and propose that members of the private, public and civic sectors are mutual grantors and withholders of each others’ social licences. I invoke the concept of inter-sectoral rivalry for control the discourses that grant or withdraw social licences. When one sector dominates the others, its preferred discourse about the social licence gets enacted. The non-dominant sectors defend themselves by criticizing that justification narrative. To the extent that one sector can dominate, there will be political criticism of the social licence from the rival sectors. Empirically determining who dominates the discourse can advance both scholarly study of the social licence and the practical application of it by any type of organization.