Path dependency and social licensing
Sethulego Z. Matebesi · 2019
In the South African context, a critical question that arises with respect to social licensing in the mining industry is: how institutions and policies of the past impact on current localised decision-making in mining communities? This chapter deals with that question by using path dependency within evolutionary governance theory, with insights from elite capture analysis and theories of trust, to understand institutional change and its impact on how mine–community relationships are managed. Since governance is radically evolutionary, the chapter demonstrates that paths to a social licence are complex and can take considerable time. The importance of trust in creating legitimacy is emphasised and is central to all decision-making procedures, while elite capture analysis highlights the general tendency of mining companies to depend on partnerships with actors within pre-existing social structures. The chapter concludes that inclusive and participatory decision-making is indeed necessary for natural-resource governance. However, historical exclusion continues to hamper current engagement.