The Unwritten License: The Social License to Operate in Latin America's Extractive Sector

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lenin Balza ◽  
Lina M. Díaz ◽  
Nicolás Gómez Parra ◽  
Osmel Manzano
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Extractive Industries ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
Public Sentiment ◽  
Social License To Operate ◽  
Social License ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Extractive Sector ◽  
Country Specific

The Latin America and the Caribbean region has benefited significantly from economic growth driven by the extractive sector. At the same time, the region has experienced high levels of conflicts related to this sector. This paper presents an overview of citizens' perceptions of the extractive industries in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Using a representative sample for each country, we identify regional and country-specific determinants of the Social License to Operate (SLO). The SLO is an unwritten license of social approval accorded to extractive projects by citizens. In this paper, we investigate a generalized version of the SLO, capturing public sentiment toward the mining and the oil and gas sectors in general. While our findings confirm that perceptions vary across countries, we show that governance is the strongest predictor of trust between citizens and the extractive sector, which is consistent with the evidence in the literature. In addition, procedural justice, distributive justice, and nationalism play essential roles in shaping individuals' attitudes. These findings suggest that strengthening government institutions could contribute to the prevention of conflict around extractive industries.

Defining the “Local” in Local Content Requirements in the Oil and Gas and Mining Sectors in Developing Countries

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chilenye Nwapi
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Resource Conflicts ◽  
Local Content ◽  
Local Populations ◽  
Social License To Operate ◽  
Social License ◽  
The Social ◽  
National Governments

AbstractThis paper examines how the term “local” has been understood in the definitions of “local content” in selected jurisdictions in developing countries. The paper critiques the centralist approach adopted by these countries that defines local content in terms of first consideration being given to their “nationals.” Little or no thought is given to the local populations who live in the area where the resource extraction takes place. The paper argues that if policymakers do not pay close attention to how “local” is defined, the benefits of local content requirements (LCRs) may be captured by “outsiders.” A bottom-up approach that recognizes the local populations where the extractive activities take place can help developing countries to prevent or douse resource conflicts. Community frustration resulting from seeing lucrative jobs given to “outsiders” can stir up conflicts. Given that revenues from extractive resources are managed by national governments in most jurisdictions, LCRs can provide a mechanism to meet the demands of subnational stakeholders, such as local governments and communities. This will in turn enable companies to obtain the social license to operate.

The Global Agenda: Perspectives from the Caribbean

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-282
Author(s):  
Michele Sogren ◽  
Karene-Anne Nathaniel
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Work Practitioners ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Global Agenda

This article presents the responses from frontline social work practitioners, administrators and educators in Trinidad to the recently published Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development. In acknowledging the significance of the Global Agenda, it became apparent that there was a need to solicit and channel the views of the local practitioners on this declaration. This article is based on a study carried out by the social work unit of the University of the West Indies. The study was intended to facilitate the articulation of the perceptions of key constituents about the Global Agenda and to critically analyse and respond to the Global Agenda within the context of a developing region. This article draws on the data that were collected from a focus group discussion among key constituents in the profession of social work in Trinidad. The findings support the Global Agenda as culturally relevant to the social realities facing Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean region at this time. The prevailing view was that notwithstanding the responsibility to institutionalise the currency of the profession to influence social policy development on critical human rights and social justice issues, country-specific mandates and jurisdictions must be maintained as the primary determinants of social work practice, education and policy development. The potential value, applicability and advancement of the four commitments put forward in the Global Agenda are also highlighted.

scholarly journals The cultural politics of biomedicine in the Caribbean

1998 ◽  
Vol 72 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 101-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul E. Brodwin
Keyword(s):  
Caribbean Region ◽  
Scientific Medicine ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Social Transformations ◽  
Health Politics ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Political Dimensions ◽  
The Masses ◽  
And Child Health

[First paragraph]Healing the Masses: Cuban Health Politics at Home and Abroad. JULIE M. FEINSILVER. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993. xx + 307 pp. (Cloth US$ 45.00, Paper US$ 17.00)The Blessings of Motherhood: Health, Pregnancy and Child Care in Dominica. ANJA KRUMEICH. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis, 1994. iii + 278 pp. (Paper NLG 47.50)Disability and Rehabilitation in Rural Jamaica: An EthnographicStudy. RONNIE LINDA LEAVITT. Rutherford NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press; London: Associated University Presses, 1992. 249 pp. (Cloth US$ 39.50)Based on research in three Caribbean societies, these books explore the contours of biomedicine ("Western" or scientific medicine) as a cultural system and an instrument of state power. On a theoretical level, the authors take up the blurred boundaries between Western biomedicine and other forms of healing as well as the political meanings and contradictions hidden behind everyday clinical routines. Their particular research projects, however, ask what has happened to the dream of universally accessible medical care in the past twenty years in the Caribbean region. The books focus on a community-based pediatric disability program in Jamaica(Leavitt), maternal and child health care in Dominica (Krumeich), and Cuba's national project of medical modernization (Feinsilver). Specific diseases or clinical outcomes are less at issue than the cultural and political dimensions of planned health development and the social transformations it sets into motion on both local and national levels.

scholarly journals Is this a Real Choice? Critical Exploration of the Social License to Operate in the Oil Extraction Context of the Ecuadorian Amazon

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 8416
Author(s):  
Alberto Diantini ◽  
Salvatore Eugenio Pappalardo ◽  
Tim Edwards Powers ◽  
Daniele Codato ◽  
Giuseppe Della Fera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Reference Model ◽  
Procedural Fairness ◽  
Oil Extraction ◽  
Social License To Operate ◽  
Social License ◽  
The Social ◽  
Ecuadorian Amazon ◽  
Oil Company

The purpose of this research was to critically analyze the social license to operate (SLO) for an oil company operating in Block 10, an oil concession located in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The specific study area is an important biodiversity hotspot, inhabited by indigenous villages. A mixed-methods approach was used to support a deeper understanding of SLO, grounded in participants’ direct experience. Semi-structured interviews (N = 53) were conducted with village leaders and members, indigenous associations, State institutions, and oil company staff, while household surveys were conducted with village residents (N = 346). The qualitative data informed a modified version of Moffat and Zhang’s SLO model, which was tested through structural equation modelling (SEM) analyses. Compared to the reference model, our findings revealed a more crucial role of procedural fairness in building community trust, as well as acceptance and approval of the company. Procedural fairness was found to be central in mediating the relationship between trust and the effects of essential services provided by the company (medical assistance, education, house availability) and sources of livelihoods (i.e., fishing, hunting, harvesting, cultivating, and waterway quality). The main results suggested that the concept of SLO may not appropriately apply without taking into account a community’s autonomy to decline company operation. To enhance procedural fairness and respect for the right of community self-determination, companies may need to consider the following: Establishing a meaningful and transparent dialogue with the local community; engaging the community in decision-making processes; enhancing fair distribution of project benefits; and properly addressing community concerns, even in the form of protests. The respect of the free prior informed consent procedure is also needed, through the collaboration of both the State and companies. The reduction of community dependence on companies (e.g., through the presence of developmental alternatives to oil extraction) is another important requirement to support an authentic SLO in the study area.

Globetrotting adventures in digital data governance and ethics

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Liberty ◽  
Digital Data ◽  
Data Governance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social License To Operate ◽  
Social License ◽  
The Social ◽  
Hospitality Organizations ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
Tourism And Hospitality

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings This research paper formulates a framework for managing data ethically – which incorporates data governance – for tourism and hospitality organizations (THOs). The framework encourages THOs, like Airbnb and Booking.com, to move beyond mere compliance and into ethical trust-building among their customer communities. This creates the social license needed to overcome controversial challenges like data breaches, and the invasion of COVID passports and other civil liberty restrictions that impact the travel sector. A privacy framework balancing customer and THO interests rests on four pillars: Compliance, Privacy and ethics, Equitable exchanges of data, and Social license to operate. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

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