Social acceptability: without yes, it's no

Social acceptability existed long before anyone even talked about it, but it simply had other names: conflict, controversy, opposition, crisis, debate, popular support... For the past ten years, this issue has been at the heart of social and political debates surrounding major development projects, from the Plan Nord to Energy East, including wind power and shale gas. But what exactly is social acceptability? Is it a new strategy to "fracture the social in order to better exploit it"? What does this somewhat catch-all concept cover? Although the Quebec government published Guidelines on Social Acceptability in 2017, the term has not yet been enshrined in any law. In the public sphere, its use eludes nuance and tends to reduce the elements of the debate to caricatures, which undermines citizens' capacity to act and reinforces the power of economic and political elites. With great rigor and a good dose of humor, Pierre Batellier and Marie-Ève Maillé invite us to an exercise in deconstructing the dichotomies present in the discourse surrounding social acceptability: promoters and opponents; those for and against; those concerned and opportunists (or variable geometry representation); the selfish and the good citizen (or the "not in my backyard" syndrome); facts and opinions; rigor and emotions; the majority and the minority; conflict and social peace; what counts and what counts... without forgetting a major blind spot in the debate: women. It is high time to think about the social acceptability of major development projects around dialogue, trust, and collective consent. Because, even when it comes to territory, without a yes, it's a no...