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Understanding and defining the social license to operate: Social acceptance, local values, overall moral legitimacy, and ‘moral authority’

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  • Breakey, Hugh
  • Wood, Graham
  • Sampford, Charles

Abstract

‘Social licence to operate’ (SLO) has become a widely used term in discussions of corporate ethics and social responsibility, both in scholarship and lay discourse. Despite this, the term has no settled meaning. Early definitions referred simply to ‘social acceptance’ by relevant stakeholders, specifically those who were directly impacted, or could directly impact on, the operations. Other understandings of SLO highlight the key drivers of acceptance, and still others refer directly to moral values. In this conceptual framework paper, we draw on parallel distinctions that arise with the term ‘legitimacy’, to provide definitions of each of these three ways of understanding SLO. However, there is a further, more unique sense of SLO that implies that operations should have community acceptance. We suggest this version of SLO refers to a community's acceptance of operations in a case where that community holds a ‘moral authority’ over those operations. We show how these four distinct understandings of SLO usefully direct attention to different yet important social and ethical dimensions of industry operations, and help to clarify the complex relationship between social acceptance and overall moral legitimacy. We also discuss cases where equivocation between different meanings can be problematic.

Suggested Citation

  • Breakey, Hugh & Wood, Graham & Sampford, Charles, 2025. "Understanding and defining the social license to operate: Social acceptance, local values, overall moral legitimacy, and ‘moral authority’," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:102:y:2025:i:c:s0301420725000303
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105488
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Domènec Melé & Jaume Armengou, 2016. "Moral Legitimacy in Controversial Projects and Its Relationship with Social License to Operate: A Case Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(4), pages 729-742, July.
    2. Martin Brueckner & Marian Eabrasu, 2018. "Pinning down the social license to operate (SLO): The problem of normative complexity," Post-Print halshs-04345251, HAL.
    3. Moffat, Kieren & Zhang, Airong, 2014. "The paths to social licence to operate: An integrative model explaining community acceptance of mining," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 61-70.
    4. Santiago, Ana Lúcia & Demajorovic, Jacques & Rossetto, Dennys Eduardo & Luke, Hanabeth, 2021. "Understanding the fundamentals of the Social Licence to Operate: Its evolution, current state of development and future avenues for research," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    5. Bowles, Paul & MacPhail, Fiona & Tetreault, Darcy, 2019. "Social licence versus procedural justice: Competing narratives of (Il)legitimacy at the San Xavier mine, Mexico," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 157-165.
    6. 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.
    7. Hugh Breakey, 2021. "Harnessing Multidimensional Legitimacy for Codes of Ethics: A Staged Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(2), pages 359-373, May.
    8. Geert Demuijnck & Björn Fasterling, 2016. "The Social License to Operate," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(4), pages 675-685, July.
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