The Past Speaks

Association of Business Historians Annual Conference

‘Pluralistic perspectives of business history: gender, class, ethnicity, religion’

The Open University Business School, 29-30 June 2018

Call for papers

The 2018 Association of Business Historians Annual Conference will be held on 29-30 June 2018 at the Open University Business School in Milton Keynes. The conference theme is ‘Pluralistic perspectives of business history: gender, class, ethnicity, religion’. The role of different social groups and identities in business is an important, though under researched, topic in business history. However, there is, increasing recognition that, for example, women were not simply ‘angels in the home’, keeping their distance, when compared with men, from the grime of the industrial revolution and the financial transactions which that involved. Social class had an impact in the City, and Quakers, for example, were important in the banking sector. There is now evidence of women occupying roles, not just as workers but also as lenders, business owners, managers, and investors in significant numbers. To what extent did culture or religions influenced occupation of these roles? There is evidence also that lower social classes did invest to some extent in newly launched companies, as did members of the clergy, as in ‘Widows, clergymen and the reckless’.

This conference aims to explore the impact of gender, social class, ethnicity, and religion on business success, fraud, funding, financial markets, corporate governance, and corporate social responsibility. Proposals for individual papers, or for full sessions, panel discussions or other session formats are invited on this topic, broadly conceived. Specific topics may include, but are not restricted to:

Ethnic, religious, class groups and women as entrepreneurs, lenders, investors, managers and/or workers.
Archival sources and methodologies to document and analyse different social groups’ participation in business.
Comparative studies of different social groups in business.
Social groups and business failure.
Social roles and relations in the workplace.
Cross-cultural issues in business and management.
Business and social movements.
Cultural, religious, gendered, class-related business networks.
Social groups and fraud, business failure, or market bubbles.
The influence of the law on different social groups or classes’ financial and business decision making.
Social groups or identities and corporate social governance.
Social groups, business and philanthropy.
Social groups or identities and the family firm.
The impact of social groups on business and corporate finance.
Social groups or identities, business, legislation and taxation.
Gendered, cultural, religious and class preferences for business characteristics.
Social groups as colonial and foreign investors.
As always, the ABH also welcomes proposals that are not directly related to the conference theme.

How to submit a paper or session proposal

The program committee will consider both individual papers and entire panels. Individual paper proposals should include a one-page (up to 300 word) abstract and one-page curriculum vitae (CV).

Panel proposals should include a cover letter stating the rationale for the panel and the name of its contact person; one-page (300 word) abstract and author’s CV for each paper; and a list of preferred panel chairs and commentators with contact information.

The deadline for submissions is 15 January 2018.

If you have any questions, please contact the local organisers: dimitris.sotiropoulos@open.ac.uk or Janette.Rutterford@open.ac.uk

Your application for the conference should come through our online submission platform: http://unternehmensgeschichte.de/public/C4

First you make a choice for uploading a single paper or a full-session. After pressing each button you will find a mask guiding you through the upload process. Please have available your CV and your Abstract.

Any other idea regarding the conference – workshops, poster sessions, or panel discussions – must be suggested directly to the Programme Committee.

Submit your Papers and Sessions: http://unternehmensgeschichte.de/public/C4