Countering corporate power through social control: what does a social licence offer?

This paper interrogates the capacity for social control to act as a complement and alternative to the law in controlling corporate harm. Social control can manifest as demands that businesses obtain a social, not just a legal, licence to operate which can provide an avenue for communities to reject...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Haines, Fiona (Author)
Contributors: Bice, Sara ; Einfeld, Colette ; Sullivan, Helen
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2022
In: The British journal of criminology
Year: 2022, Volume: 62, Issue: 1, Pages: 184-199
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Keywords:
Corporate harm
Regulation
Social Control
Social licence
fields of struggle
Description
Summary:This paper interrogates the capacity for social control to act as a complement and alternative to the law in controlling corporate harm. Social control can manifest as demands that businesses obtain a social, not just a legal, licence to operate which can provide an avenue for communities to reject or shape company operations. Drawing on parallels with the ambiguities that hinder the criminalization of business conduct, this paper shows how the social licence can also be used to silence critical voices or justify harmful practices. This ambiguity hinges on struggles around what is or is not socially desirable, which can engender significant conflict. Whilst this conflict might be inevitable, even productive in reducing corporate harm, it can leave a debilitating social legacy
ISSN:1464-3529
DOI:10.1093/bjc/azab049