Multilingual Business History: Past, Present, and Future

2014 BHC Meeting
  • Patrick Fridenson, Editor, Entreprises et Histoire, School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS)
  • Andrew Popp, Incoming Editor, Enterprise & Society, University of Liverpool
  • Philip Scranton, Editor, Enterprise & Society, Rutgers University
  • Ray Stokes, former editor of the Zeitschrift für Unternehmensgeschichte/executive editor of Business History, University of Glasgow

workshop14a.jpgThis workshop considered issues of language in business history research and publishing and the challenges these issues present for both editors and authors, especially those for whom English is not their first language. Are English-language journals dominant in terms of prestige and, if so, what effect is this having on the development of the discipline? What challenges do young scholars without English as a first language face in getting published and read, and what strategies might they best adopt to overcome these as they seek to develop a career? What role do/should the journals have in shaping the language of business history?

Note: Ray Stokes was unable to attend; Jan Otmar-Hesse, of Bielefeld University, took his place.