scholarly journals Rethinking history and memory in organization studies: The case for historiographical reflexivity

2020 ◽  
pp. 001872672092744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Decker ◽  
John Hassard ◽  
Michael Rowlinson
Keyword(s):  
Collective Memory ◽  
Organizational Memory ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Organizational History ◽  
History And Memory ◽  
Methodological Choices ◽  
The Past ◽  
Memory Traces

The historic turn in organization studies has led to greater appreciation of the potential contribution from historical research. However, there is increasing emphasis on integrating history into organization studies, rather than on recognizing how accommodating history might require a reorientation. As a result, key conceptual and methodological insights from historiography have been overlooked or at times misrepresented. We identify four modes of enquiry that highlight distinctions from history about ‘how to conceptualize’ and ‘how to research’ the past. First, historical organization studies research the past primarily through reference to archival sources. Second, retrospective organizational history reconstructs the past principally from retrospective accounts, such as those generated in oral history. Third, retrospective organizational memory uses ethnography and interviews to explore the role of memory in the present. Fourth, historical organizational memory traces the institutionalization of organizational memory through archival research. From the analysis, we argue that historical organization studies are increasingly established, and interest in ‘uses of the past’ has contributed to the rise of retrospective organizational memory. However, historiographical reflexivity – a new concept for organization studies – focuses attention on engaging with both history and collective memory, and on the distinct methodological choices between archival and retrospective methods.

scholarly journals Rola języka w uwalnianiu się z dziedzicznych traum

Politeja ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2(65)) ◽  
pp. 189-204
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Marcol
Keyword(s):  
Collective Memory ◽  
Cultural Memory ◽  
Social Position ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
The Village

The Role of Language in Releasing from Inherited Traumas. Negotiations of the Social Position of the Silesian Minority in Serbian Banat The aim of the paper is to show the dependence between language, collective memory (also post-memory) and sense of identity. This issue is analysed using the example of an ethnic minority living in the village of Ostojićevo (Banat, Serbia) called ‘Toutowie.’ Their ancestors came in the 19th century from Wisła (Silesian Cieszyn, Poland); they left their homes because of great hunger and were looking for jobs in Banat. Narratives about the past contain traumatic experiences of the past generations transmitted in the Silesian dialect and constituting communicative memory. At the same time, a new Polish national identity is being constructed, supported by institutions and authorities; it carries a new image of the world and creates a new cultural memory. This new identity – shaped on the basis of national categories – leads to changes of its self-identification and gives the opportunity to raise its social position in the multi-ethnic Banat community.

The Landscape of Historical Memory

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirk A. Denton
Keyword(s):  
Architectural Design ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Democratic Progressive Party ◽  
Martial Law ◽  
History And Memory ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
The Past ◽  
Culture History ◽  
Economic Climate

The Landscape of Historical Memory explores the place of museums and memorial culture in the contestation over historical memory in post–martial law Taiwan. The book is particularly oriented toward the role of politics—especially political parties—in the establishment, administration, architectural design, and historical narratives of museums. It is framed around the wrangling between the “blue camp” (the Nationalist Party, or KMT, and its supporters) and the “green camp” (Democratic Progressive Party, DPP), and its supporters) over what facets of the past should be remembered and how they should be displayed in museums. Organized into chapters focused on particular types of museums and memorial spaces (archaeology museums, history museums, martyrs’ shrines, war museums, memorial halls, literature museums, ethnology museums, ecomuseums, etc.), the book presents a broad overview of the state of museums in Taiwan in the past three decades. The case of Taiwan museums tells us much about Cold War politics and its legacy in East Asia; the role of culture, history, and memory in shaping identities in the multiply “postcolonial” landscape of Taiwan; the politics of historical memory in an emergent democracy, especially in counterpoint to the politics of museums in the People’s Republic of China, which continues to be an authoritarian single party state; and the place of museums in a neoliberal economic climate.

The role of non-corporeal Actant theory in historical research

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-76
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Hartt ◽  
Albert J. Mills ◽  
Jean Helms Mills
Keyword(s):  
New Deal ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Vice President ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
The New Deal

Purpose This paper aims to study the role of non-corporeal Actant theory in historical research through a case study of the trajectory of the New Deal as one of the foremost institutions in the USA since its inception in the early 1930s. Design/methodology/approach The authors follow the trajectory of the New Deal through a focus on Vice President Henry A. Wallace. Drawing on ANTi-History, the authors view history as a powerful discourse for organizing understandings of the past and non-corporeal Actants as a key influence on making sense of (past) events. Findings The authors conclude that non-corporeal Actants influence the shaping of management and organization studies that serve paradoxically to obfuscate history and its relationship to the past. Research limitations/implications The authors drew on a series of published studies of Henry Wallace and archival material in the Roosevelt Library, but the study would benefit from an in-depth analysis of the Wallace archives. Practical implications The authors reveal the influences of non-corporeal Actants as a method for dealing with the past. The authors do this through the use of ANTi-History as a method of historical analysis. Social implications The past is an important source of understanding of the present and future; this innovative approach increases the potential to understand. Originality/value Decisions are often black boxes. Non-Corporeal Actants are a new tool with which to see the underlying inputs of choice.

Collective memory and social movements in times of crisis: the case of Romania

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 671-684 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raluca Abăseacă
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
National Context ◽  
Southern Europe ◽  
The Past ◽  
Occupy Movements ◽  
Rosia Montana

Social movements are not completely spontaneous. On the contrary, they depend on past events and experiences and are rooted in specific contexts. By focusing on three case studies – the student mobilizations of 2011 and 2013, the anti-government mobilizations of 2012, and the protests against the Rosia Montana Gold Corporation project of 2013 – this article aims to investigate the role of collective memory in post-2011 movements in Romania. The legacy of the past is reflected not only in a return to the symbols and frames of the anti-Communist mobilizations of 1989 and 1990, but also in the difficulties of the protesters to delimit themselves from nationalist actors, to develop global claims, and to target austerity and neoliberalism. Therefore, even in difficult economic conditions, Romanian movements found it hard to align their efforts with those of the Indignados/Occupy movements. More generally, the case of Romania proves that activism remains rooted in the local and national context, reflecting the memories, experiences, and fears of the mobilized actors, in spite of the spread of a repertoire of action from Western and southern Europe.

Autobiographical Memory and Identities in Organizations

2020 ◽  
pp. 373-390
Author(s):  
Roy Suddaby ◽  
Majken Schultz ◽  
Trevor Israelsen
Keyword(s):  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
Organizational Memory ◽  
The Self ◽  
Life Narrative ◽  
The Past ◽  
Ongoing Effort ◽  
Narrative Constructions ◽  
Autonoetic Consciousness ◽  
Over Time

Current theories of identity in organizations assume and valorize stability of identity over time. In this chapter the authors challenge this assumption by introducing contemporary understandings of the fluidity of time in the construction of autobiographical memory. They argue that, both in individual and organizational memory, narrative constructions of the self fluidly incorporate episodes from the past, present, and future in an ongoing effort to create a coherent autobiography. They elaborate the construct of autobiographical memory as constituted by autonoetic consciousness, life narrative, and collective memory and discuss the implications for identities in organizations.

How Berlusconi will be remembered: notoriety, collective memory and the mediatisation of posterity

Modern Italy ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Gundle
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
Collective Consciousness ◽  
The Past ◽  
Personality Cult ◽  
The Mass Media ◽  
Silvio Berlusconi ◽  
The Way

This article explores the ways in which Silvio Berlusconi might figure in collective memory. It approaches this from a number of angles. First, consideration is given to the way political figures of the past have resonated culturally and the role of institutions including the mass media in this. Second, Berlusconi's own efforts to situate himself in relation to a shared past are explored, with reference to the place of three nostalgic appeals that figured with varying intensity at different points in his career. Third, Berlusconian aesthetics are investigated to explore the relative roles of kitsch and glamour. It is shown that kitsch gained the upper hand and that this also manifested itself in the monarchical aspects that his personality cult took on. Finally, Berlusconi is considered as a possible subject for a biopic and a discussion is offered of the way his life and career might be presented in different variants of this genre. Overall, it is suggested that expectations that he will be damned by history fail to take account both of the way he imposed himself on the collective consciousness and of the generic requirements of the mass media.

scholarly journals La desmemoria en la historia oficial : reflexiones sobre la memoria y el olvido en el exilio español

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 33-44
Author(s):  
José Antonio Mérida Donoso
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
The Past

The concepts of (collective) memory and history are similar in that they both deal with the notion of identity, yet diverge in their methods and dwell on the past events in different ways. History has now started to be regarded as an objective - a doubtful, though desirable attribute - "human" or "social" science, while memory remains the space of subjective experience. This article presents a series of reflections on Spain's recent past, focusing on the role of literature in preserving the collective memory and constructing a social identity.

scholarly journals Living up to the past? Ideological sensemaking in organizational transition

Organization ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 543-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mairi Maclean ◽  
Charles Harvey ◽  
John A. A. Sillince ◽  
Benjamin D. Golant
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
Oral History ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
Organizational History ◽  
Organizational Transition ◽  
The Past ◽  
Top Managers ◽  
Over Time

This article builds upon archival and oral-history research on organizational change at Procter & Gamble from 1930 to 2000, focusing on periods of transition. It examines historical narrative as a vehicle for ideological sensemaking by top managers. Our empirical analysis sheds light on continuities in the narratives they offer, through which the past emerges as a recurrent lever of strategic manoeuvres and re-orientations. This reveals that while organizational history is sometimes regarded as a strategic asset or intrinsic part of collective memory, it is also re-enacted as a shared heritage, implying responsibilities. Executives (re)interpret the past and author the future, maintaining the historical narrative while using interpellation to ensure ideological consistency over time. The interpellative power of rhetorical narrative helps to recast organizational members as participants in an ongoing drama. In this way executives claim their legitimate right to initiate and manage organizational transition.

Therapeutic forgetting, agonistic remembrance: Conflicting memories of Izmir’s Kültürpark and contested narratives in contemporary Turkey

2020 ◽  
pp. 175069802092143
Author(s):  
Emre Gönlügür ◽  
Devrim Sezer
Keyword(s):  
Collective Memory ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Architectural History ◽  
Memory Studies ◽  
National Narratives ◽  
History And Memory ◽  
The Past ◽  
Recent Memory ◽  
History Of ◽  
Muslim Communities

This article proposes to read the history of Izmir’s Kültürpark as symptomatic of Turkey’s troubled relationship with its political past and urban heritage. Combining insights from political theory, urban and architectural history, and memory studies for a transdisciplinary analysis, it problematizes the oblivion surrounding Kültürpark and explores the ways in which this collective amnesia is questioned by contemporary artists and civic initiatives. First, we examine how Kültürpark rose on a foundation of forgetting of the uprooting of Izmir’s non-Muslim communities from their homeland and the disappearance of their cultural traces from collective memory. Second, we explore how contemporary artistic and civic interventions that engage with the themes of remembrance and coming to terms with the past contest highly selective memory constructs. Third, we raise the question of whether the agonistic debates on the national narratives about the past might open up a new memoryscape and signal a relatively late ‘memory turn’ in Turkey. Finally, we argue that these artistic and civic interventions might shed new light on the theoretical disputes in memory studies, in particular on the debates about cosmopolitan and agonistic modes of remembering. More specifically, we suggest that the recent memory turn Turkey has been experiencing demonstrates that these two modes of remembering are not mutually exclusive.

Postcards from Europe: The Workings of Memory and the Role of Language in Tuvia Ruebner’s Postcard Poems

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-170
Author(s):  
Shahar Bram
Keyword(s):  
Collective Memory ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
The Past ◽  
Individual Memory ◽  
Presence And Absence ◽  
The Individual

Tuvia Ruebner’s postcard poems undermine the stereotypical, commercial image that tourist postcards wish to create. The name of the poem and the structure hint at such postcards, but attempt to change their appearance, to broaden the limits of the present, and integrate the past into it. The poet offers a memento that combines presence and absence, what is visual and what is verbal, and an inner and an outer reality. The individual memory is thus woven into a collective memory. These poems offer a sober worldview where Europe turns out to be the source of pain and longing, alongside great joys and pleasures. Ruebner’s postcard poems subvert the normative boundaries and binary divisions, providing the reader with a deeper look at human nature, and at the workings of memory.

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