An interlude on social licence and countervailing power: From metaphor to realism

The lack of careful discussion about the origins and evolution of “social licence” in mining is clear to any reader keen enough to rummage through the literature on the topic. Over a series of extractive decades an awareness dawned on the industry: while there was a consistently strong market demand for resource-based commodities, the industry itself was unpopular. Mining companies were increasingly confronted by social outrage; a problem that struck at the reputation of corporations, and threatened the tenure of mining operations world-wide.