The aim of this workshop is to discuss methodological challenges faced by business historians as they study the role of firms and business groups facing regulatory environmental standards after 1960. It therefore responds to the call for more research in business history engaging with environmental issues and especially regarding the role that business interests played in influencing systems of environmental governance in the past.
Regulatory standards have created a new level of methodological complexity for business historians. As knowledge on how technology affects the natural environment is developing incessantly, policymakers review environmental standards constantly as new information becomes available. For firms, environmental standards greatly affects technological choice and therefore has important impact on business strategies. Moreover, the development and implementation of environmental standards involves co-creation of technological and economic knowledge between governing bodies and business actors, which forces business historians to expand the analysis outside firm boundaries and to process complex information on the relationship between technology and the natural environment.
The implementation of environmental standards involves a wide variety of actors. Producers are simultaneously the subject of the emerging regulations, the interested parties involved in the political process and the providers of significant technical expertise. They interact with a number of governing bodies (regional and national governments, intergovernmental organizations) and face opposition from different circles (nongovernmental organizations, left-wing and green parties). The political organization of business is complex, ranging from lobbying strategies at individual businesses to coordinated actions by sectoral and top-level associations. This complicated set of relationships must be addressed to understand the often diverging views existing within business circles and to move beyond simplistic opposition between the business community and environmental policy-makers.
In comparison with other social scientists studying the recent period, business historians can take advantage of the fact that certain internal documents—such as minutes of meetings and private correspondence—may be available in archives after a specified period. These documents can lead to important new insights into the specific steps that caused delays in the implementation of environmental standards and into the role of interest groups to induce such delays or, on the contrary, to prompt the political process. Nevertheless, gaining access to business archives is often very challenging, especially material concerning environmental issues after 1960, and the possibility for firm-level archival studies is limited. Alternative material might be found in government archives or in the libraries of business associations, and finding a path forward certainly requires creativity.
To address these issues, each participant is invited to submit a paper prior to the workshop that will be circulated among the other panelists. During the workshop, all participants should briefly present some methodological issues that they want to address with their peers. The objective of the workshop is to exchange experiences and to discuss innovative methodological approaches.
If non-panelists want to attend, they are welcome to do so, but have to contact the organizers if they want to be able to read the papers in advance.