SLO

This chapter undertakes a conceptual analysis of the concept social licence to operate. The meaning of social licence to operate is considered using the distinction between the ‘sense’ of a term and the ‘referents’ of that term out in the world. The distinction between description and prescription and the nature of social facts are introduced and applied to the concept of social licence to operate. Then the process of analogical analysis is introduced, and an analogy between sociopolitical freedom and social licence to operate is examined. The central questions of this analysis are as follows. Can anything be learnt about social licence to operate from an understanding of sociopolitical freedom? And do the concepts of negative and positive freedom give support to the possibility that there are (at least) two senses of social licence to operate (namely, negative and positive social licence to operate)?