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Mining Conflict and the Politics of Obtaining a Social License: Insight from Guatemala

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  • Costanza, Jennifer Noel

Abstract

Mining as a development strategy has become ubiquitous throughout the developing world. However, if mining firms want to take advantage of the most mineral-rich terrain in developing countries, they must engage with the communities living near projected mining operations. Firms may sometimes use violence to quiet local opposition, but increasingly, they will seek a “social license to operate.” This term refers not to the legal requirements firm must obtain, such as governmental and environmental clearances, but rather the elusive support of the affected local population that will help a firm avoid project delays, maintain a positive public image, and prevent further regulation of the mining industry. There is a lack of research on how firms pursue a social license to operate. Through a qualitative case study of a mining conflict in Guatemala, this article addresses two questions: First, how do mining firms obtain a social license to operate, in practice? Second, what results from this process? Using a mix of qualitative data collected in 2009–2011, the article analyzes how a large Guatemalan construction materials firm, Cementos Progreso, sought a social license to operate in the indigenous municipality of San Juan Sacatepéquez, Guatemala, and with what results. An alliance of firm and state constructed new institutions for citizen participation in local governance, promoted from within them the idea that mining was complementary with development, and backed up this discourse with tangible results. Government transparency and accountability improved, as did provision of basic services. The findings suggest that the local state, especially institutions designed to encourage citizen participation in local governance, can play a crucial role in determining whether and how mining firms can operate.

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  • Costanza, Jennifer Noel, 2016. "Mining Conflict and the Politics of Obtaining a Social License: Insight from Guatemala," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 97-113.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:79:y:2016:i:c:p:97-113
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.10.021
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    Cited by:

    1. Dueholm Rasch, Elisabet, 2019. "Subsoil mediations: Strategies of contention at the grassroots and the extraction of subsoil resources," GLOCON Working Paper Series 11, Freie Universität Berlin, Junior Research Group "Global Change – Local Conflicts?" (GLOCON).
    2. Bezzola, Selina & Günther, Isabel & Brugger, Fritz & Lefoll, Erwin, 2022. "CSR and local conflicts in African mining communities," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    3. Olivier Boiral & Iñaki Heras‐Saizarbitoria & Marie‐Christine Brotherton, 2023. "Sustainability management and social license to operate in the extractive industry: The cross‐cultural gap with Indigenous communities," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 125-137, February.
    4. Brueckner, Martin & Eabrasu, Marian, 2018. "Pinning down the social license to operate (SLO): The problem of normative complexity," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 217-226.
    5. Amengual, Matthew, 2018. "Buying stability: The distributive outcomes of private politics in the Bolivian mining industry," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 31-45.
    6. Gustafsson, Maria-Therese & Scurrah, Martin, 2019. "Strengthening subnational institutions for sustainable development in resource-rich states: Decentralized land-use planning in Peru," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 133-144.
    7. Vanessa Sloan Morgan & Dawn Hoogeveen & May Farrales & Maya K Gislason & Margot W Parkes & Henry G Harder, 2021. "Resource extraction and intersectoral research: Engaging accountable relations in the Environment Community Health Observatory Network," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 39(5), pages 972-992, August.
    8. Haslam, Paul Alexander, 2021. "The micro-politics of corporate responsibility: How companies shape protest in communities affected by mining," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    9. Howse, Tara, 2022. "Trust and the social licence to operate in the Guatemalan mining sector: Escobal Mine case study," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).

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