Businesses and other organizations are increasingly aware that they need more than just a legal licence for their activities. The concept of the “social licence” is transforming power relationships and explains how organizations can acquire or lose the legitimacy in the eyes of society that they need to be able to operate effectively. A social license cannot be directly managed, but is the result of interactions between a number of factors – factors that John Morrison shows business can manage, but which mainstream Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) often struggles to frame correctly. With examples ranging from the Gulf of Mexico to the Niger Delta, Morrison shows how the social license is dynamic, and why managers must start by focusing on the rights of those directly impacted by their activities. He provides clear guidance on understanding, measuring and integrating legitimacy into a company’s strategy. The book "The Social License: How to Keep Your Organization Legitimate" (ISBN-10: 1137370718) was published on 8 September 2014 by Palgrave MacMillan. CONTENTS Acknowledgments Preface PART ONE; INTRODUCTION (pp 3-38) 1. Macondo 2. The Social License 3. What's wrong with CSR? PART TWO: THE FOUNDATIONS (pp 39-90) 4. Legitimacy: which organisations might receive social license for their activities? 5. Trust: confidence in the relationship with those affected 6. Consent: granting necessary permissions for an activity PART THREE: BUILDING AND LOSING CONDITIONS FOR THE SOCIAL LICENSE (pp 91-130) 7. Benefits: the delivery of sufficiently positive outcomes for all concerned 8. Tackling imbalances of power: knowledge, participation, transparency and accountability 9. Prevention and remedies: protecting victims and ensuring justice PART FOUR: WHAT NEXT? (pp 131-168) 10. Different organisations and the social license 11. A basis for partnership and accountability 12. The social license - a prognosis Notes Select Bibliography Index

2. Early history 1215 1689 1776 1789 1792
1800s early 1900s 1919
1939-1945 1948 1949 1951 1961 1978 1970s - 2000
A Short History of the Human Rights Movement
The evolution of the social contract

3. “Those who expect
to reap the blessings
of freedom, must
undergo the fatigues
of supporting it”
- Thomas Paine, The
American Crisis, 1777

4. About my book
• Businesses and other organizations are increasingly aware
that they need more than just a legal licence for their
activities. The concept of the “social licence” is transforming
power relationships and explains how organizations can
acquire or lose the legitimacy in the eyes of society that they
need to be able to operate effectively.
• A social license cannot be directly managed, but is the result
of interactions between a number of factors – factors that
John Morrison shows business can manage, but which
mainstream Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) often
struggles to frame correctly.
• With examples ranging from the Gulf of Mexico to the Niger
Delta, Morrison shows how the social license is dynamic, and
why managers must start by focusing on the rights of those
directly impacted by their activities. He provides clear
guidance on understanding, measuring and integrating
legitimacy into a company’s strategy.

5. What’s wrong with CSR?
“ [CSR] implies that business ... has no inherent
social utility, but requires a sanitising ‘add-on’—
something which enables it to ‘give back’ to society,
a sentiment frequently heard on the lips of
corporate leaders apparently unaware that this
suggests that their own core activities are parasitic,
which, without appropriate policies and principles
relating to the whole of their impact, they may
indeed be.”
- Sir Geoffrey Chandler (2003)

8. Where to buy my book
The book "The Social License: How to Keep Your
Organization Legitimate" (ISBN-10:
1137370718) was published on 8 September
2014 by Palgrave MacMillan and can be found at
a range of book sellers.
www.johnmorrisonbooks.com