Conceptualizing Company Response to Community Protest: Principles to Achieve a Social License to Operate

Protests are mechanisms by which affected communities express their concerns and signal there is no social license. Rather than let protest actions escalate, companies should engage in meaningful dialogue with protesters. This paper identifies around 175 actions that companies may take in relation to community protest and discusses how these actions variously have the potential to escalate or de-escalate conflict, depending on whether the company engages in appropriate and genuine interaction with protesters or if repressive measures are used.