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6 Social Investment Discourses in Participants’ Interviews
the social license to operate appeared in participants’ accounts: “I think it’s [social
investment’s] integral to what we call a social license to operate […]” (P5, social
investment expert); “I think it is good and right that they [O&G companies] do
something and that [it] has a community support and that it gives them, you know,
social license in, local areas” (P14, Government expert); and,
Well it’s optimum to say that [social investment] is part of the social license to operate, I
mean, I am sure you heard that in your research [laughs]. But I see [it] as an integral part of
doing business in an extractive industry. (P10, social investment expert)
In working around discourses, my participants established a direct parallel between
social investment and a ‘social license to operate’. According to Gunningham, Kagan,
and Thornton (2004), the social license to operate relates to voluntary activities
companies develop to have host communities welcoming O&G operations within
the direct and indirect area of influence (see Chapter 1). To do so, companies often
use social investment as a way to meet their host society’s expectations and avoid
community actions that could thwart operations. In this regard, when asked to clarify
what s/he believed to be a social license to operate, P8 explained how companies
may use social investment in a way that avoids conflict with the host community and
consequently, financial losses:
The social license to operate … some companies, in my view, develop [social investment]
to avoid taking over a great amount of legal liability [for damage to the community], which
could lead to interruptions in operations. I think it’s a lot to do with mitigating conflicts.
These [social investments] are actions taken to avoid future problems that may impact the
operations and consequently impact [the company’s] finance. (P8, social investment expert,
translated)
Hence, P8 clearly constructed social investment as a preventive mechanism that
mitigates legal costs. In P8’s segment, social investment mainly served the operational
interests of the company. However, although as with working on discourses, working
around discourses related to defending the interests of the company, working around
discourses also constructed social investment as ideally benefiting the community,
for example:
So in our company social investment, we are doing social investment because it is part of our
general business principles that we aim to be a good neighbour by continuously improving
the way that we contribute directly or indirectly to the general wellbeing of the community.
And that’s got two aspects: the first aspect is of minimising the impacts of our operations,
but then social investments relates to a second aspect, which is about enhancing the benefits
to local communities. So we are doing social investment because it is what we believe it is
the right thing to do in the local communities we operate in. (P7, social investment expert)
Another social investment expert presented similar ideas:
There is also [what I call] strategic investment, which is a way to make sure that the interests of
the company are met at the same time that it generates local opportunities [for the community]
in the long run. (P11, translated)
P7 and P11 talked about two elements of social investment: to look after the interests
of the company and to benefit communities. Morrison (2014) asserts that, in order to
6 Social Investment Discourses in Participants’ Interviews
the social license to operate appeared in participants’ accounts: “I think it’s [social
investment’s] integral to what we call a social license to operate […]” (P5, social
investment expert); “I think it is good and right that they [O&G companies] do
something and that [it] has a community support and that it gives them, you know,
social license in, local areas” (P14, Government expert); and,
Well it’s optimum to say that [social investment] is part of the social license to operate, I
mean, I am sure you heard that in your research [laughs]. But I see [it] as an integral part of
doing business in an extractive industry. (P10, social investment expert)
In working around discourses, my participants established a direct parallel between
social investment and a ‘social license to operate’. According to Gunningham, Kagan,
and Thornton (2004), the social license to operate relates to voluntary activities
companies develop to have host communities welcoming O&G operations within
the direct and indirect area of influence (see Chapter 1). To do so, companies often
use social investment as a way to meet their host society’s expectations and avoid
community actions that could thwart operations. In this regard, when asked to clarify
what s/he believed to be a social license to operate, P8 explained how companies
may use social investment in a way that avoids conflict with the host community and
consequently, financial losses:
The social license to operate … some companies, in my view, develop [social investment]
to avoid taking over a great amount of legal liability [for damage to the community], which
could lead to interruptions in operations. I think it’s a lot to do with mitigating conflicts.
These [social investments] are actions taken to avoid future problems that may impact the
operations and consequently impact [the company’s] finance. (P8, social investment expert,
translated)
Hence, P8 clearly constructed social investment as a preventive mechanism that
mitigates legal costs. In P8’s segment, social investment mainly served the operational
interests of the company. However, although as with working on discourses, working
around discourses related to defending the interests of the company, working around
discourses also constructed social investment as ideally benefiting the community,
for example:
So in our company social investment, we are doing social investment because it is part of our
general business principles that we aim to be a good neighbour by continuously improving
the way that we contribute directly or indirectly to the general wellbeing of the community.
And that’s got two aspects: the first aspect is of minimising the impacts of our operations,
but then social investments relates to a second aspect, which is about enhancing the benefits
to local communities. So we are doing social investment because it is what we believe it is
the right thing to do in the local communities we operate in. (P7, social investment expert)
Another social investment expert presented similar ideas:
There is also [what I call] strategic investment, which is a way to make sure that the interests of
the company are met at the same time that it generates local opportunities [for the community]
in the long run. (P11, translated)
P7 and P11 talked about two elements of social investment: to look after the interests
of the company and to benefit communities. Morrison (2014) asserts that, in order to