TY - JOUR
T1 - Contesting the social license to operate
T2 - Competing visions and community exclusion on the Bolivian Altiplano
AU - Mulhern, Riley
AU - Mulhern, Margaret
AU - Perreault, Tom
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors are indebted to the support of Centro de Ecología y Pueblos Andinos in Oruro, Bolivia for this work, including access to documents and facilitation of community connections. Ruth Vilches Torrejón, Carla Valdivia Mendizábal, Jhonny Terrazas, Limbert Sanchez, and Gilberto Pauwels each provided important contributions to the research process. The opinions expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not reflect the views of their respective affiliations.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2022/3
Y1 - 2022/3
N2 - The concept of a Social License to Operate (SLO) has increasingly been employed in the extractive industries worldwide as a measure of social acceptance and legitimacy, particularly among those local communities most impacted by extractive activities. This study uses the SLO framework to critically evaluate ongoing conflict regarding the social and environmental impacts of the Kori Chaca gold mine in Oruro, Bolivia. Contrasting claims regarding these impacts made by the mining company and the nearest downstream community were analyzed as indicators of each party's perception of SLO. Discrepancies in how these stakeholders understand SLO reveal ways in which the industry uses the concept to legitimize its operations without ensuring genuine participation or dialogue with impacted communities. The community's understanding of SLO was based on the fair distribution of costs and benefits related to the mining project. By contrast, the company's perception of SLO was based on demonstrating the minimum benefit deemed sufficient to meet international sustainability standards. The case of Kori Chaca demonstrates how formal adherence to the principles of SLO can still result in the privileging of company-defined objectives while the unique, place-based concerns of local communities remain overlooked.
AB - The concept of a Social License to Operate (SLO) has increasingly been employed in the extractive industries worldwide as a measure of social acceptance and legitimacy, particularly among those local communities most impacted by extractive activities. This study uses the SLO framework to critically evaluate ongoing conflict regarding the social and environmental impacts of the Kori Chaca gold mine in Oruro, Bolivia. Contrasting claims regarding these impacts made by the mining company and the nearest downstream community were analyzed as indicators of each party's perception of SLO. Discrepancies in how these stakeholders understand SLO reveal ways in which the industry uses the concept to legitimize its operations without ensuring genuine participation or dialogue with impacted communities. The community's understanding of SLO was based on the fair distribution of costs and benefits related to the mining project. By contrast, the company's perception of SLO was based on demonstrating the minimum benefit deemed sufficient to meet international sustainability standards. The case of Kori Chaca demonstrates how formal adherence to the principles of SLO can still result in the privileging of company-defined objectives while the unique, place-based concerns of local communities remain overlooked.
KW - Bolivia
KW - Corporate social responsibility
KW - Social license to operate
KW - community conflict
KW - sustainable mining
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U2 - 10.1016/j.exis.2020.08.014
DO - 10.1016/j.exis.2020.08.014
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85090564050
SN - 2214-790X
VL - 9
JO - Extractive Industries and Society
JF - Extractive Industries and Society
M1 - 100803
ER -