Divide to conquer. A transnational analysis of extractive industries'performative governance tactics to gain social license
Caretta, Martina Angela LU
(2026)
In Resources Policy
116.
- Abstract
Natural resource extraction often takes place in locations where communities are not financially well-off and where historically marginalized groups reside. This paper contributes to the policy debate by revealing how corporate social licence tactics enable a model of corporate-community manipulation which is similar across different geographical contexts. Original data gathered between 2016 and 2024 is drawn from observation and more than 100 interviews and member checking workshops with residents of Appalachia, USA affected by hydraulic fracturing and, of southern Ecuador threatened by a gold mining concession. Data demonstrates the diffusion of a globalized repertoire of performative governance across very different political and... (More)
Natural resource extraction often takes place in locations where communities are not financially well-off and where historically marginalized groups reside. This paper contributes to the policy debate by revealing how corporate social licence tactics enable a model of corporate-community manipulation which is similar across different geographical contexts. Original data gathered between 2016 and 2024 is drawn from observation and more than 100 interviews and member checking workshops with residents of Appalachia, USA affected by hydraulic fracturing and, of southern Ecuador threatened by a gold mining concession. Data demonstrates the diffusion of a globalized repertoire of performative governance across very different political and economic geographies. The parallelism between these two different contexts suggests that extractive social licence consists in a globalized and standardized form of soft power enacted through performative governance thanks to complacent governments and extractive companies using economic tactics and intimidation to divide communities and force extractive projects onto them. In such context, regulatory implications and accountability mechanisms appear to be rather empty. On the reverse, if social licence would undergo a process of juridification would companies be forced to follow a specific legal path, possibly including external monitoring, in such a way that the pressures experienced by residents presented in this article would not take place.
(Less)
- author
- Caretta, Martina Angela
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-05
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Appalachia, Ecuador, Extractivism, Hydraulic fracturing, Mining, Performative governance, Social license
- in
- Resources Policy
- volume
- 116
- article number
- 105906
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105033238876
- ISSN
- 0301-4207
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.resourpol.2026.105906
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2026 The Author.
- id
- 9a19dc99-3ce6-408e-a8d6-09f60991e595
- date added to LUP
- 2026-04-28 16:27:12
- date last changed
- 2026-04-28 16:28:02
@article{9a19dc99-3ce6-408e-a8d6-09f60991e595,
abstract = {{<p>Natural resource extraction often takes place in locations where communities are not financially well-off and where historically marginalized groups reside. This paper contributes to the policy debate by revealing how corporate social licence tactics enable a model of corporate-community manipulation which is similar across different geographical contexts. Original data gathered between 2016 and 2024 is drawn from observation and more than 100 interviews and member checking workshops with residents of Appalachia, USA affected by hydraulic fracturing and, of southern Ecuador threatened by a gold mining concession. Data demonstrates the diffusion of a globalized repertoire of performative governance across very different political and economic geographies. The parallelism between these two different contexts suggests that extractive social licence consists in a globalized and standardized form of soft power enacted through performative governance thanks to complacent governments and extractive companies using economic tactics and intimidation to divide communities and force extractive projects onto them. In such context, regulatory implications and accountability mechanisms appear to be rather empty. On the reverse, if social licence would undergo a process of juridification would companies be forced to follow a specific legal path, possibly including external monitoring, in such a way that the pressures experienced by residents presented in this article would not take place.</p>}},
author = {{Caretta, Martina Angela}},
issn = {{0301-4207}},
keywords = {{Appalachia; Ecuador; Extractivism; Hydraulic fracturing; Mining; Performative governance; Social license}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Resources Policy}},
title = {{Divide to conquer. A transnational analysis of extractive industries'performative governance tactics to gain social license}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2026.105906}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.resourpol.2026.105906}},
volume = {{116}},
year = {{2026}},
}