"Can I see your social license please?"

Abstract

The concept of a ‘social licence to operate’ has become ubiquitous in recent years, but there is no agreed definition, and its meaning continues to mutate as it spreads to ever more domains. The concept was first floated by a mining company executive after a disaster at a mine in the Philippines in 1995, and it spread exponentially. A small but growing body of academic research and commentary is bringing some rigour, but is not keeping pace with its rate of mutation. The narrative around the term is now more valuable than the term itself, which should be retired.