Violations of the Social License

This chapter expands scholarly definitions regarding the concept of corporate social license to operate before moving into the danger of violating the license. Violations are exemplified by cases derived from corporate investigation reports. To define the concept and highlight the scholarly potential of the theme of social license violation, a number of focused illustrative case studies are introduced. These include examinations of a clothing retailer which withdrew from longstanding production of its garments in Myanmar following socio-political pressure, a large-scale social housing developer subjected to public scrutiny, and a fisheries conglomerate that was revealed to have obtained fishing rights through bribery.