Dependent stakeholders, ethical value judgments, and relational legitimacy: the case of fracking in the United Kingdom

The relationship between corporations and local community stakeholders in sites of contestation and flux, such as the oil and gas extractive industries, is well documented. However, several scholars have called for research concerning how dependent stakeholders, notably the local community stakeholders, are defined, formed, and comprised. Adopting an interpretivist case study methodology, this research focuses on the case of fracking in the United Kingdom. Drawing on ethnographic data, which included twelve semi-structured interviews with participants from two cohorts of stakeholders, namely the industry and the community, stakeholder observations were thematically analyzed. Triangulation was achieved with academic survey data, relevant government documents, and local and national media reportage. The findings show that the formation, definition, and self-identification of local community stakeholders make such groups more powerful and salient actors than is often assumed in the literature and by the stakeholders themselves. The study highlights the problem of focusing on institutional legitimacy to the detriment of relational legitimacy, emphasizing that ‘dependent’ stakeholders engage in value judgments critical for businesses’ social license to operate.