Oral Business History: Recent Approaches

Oral business history is a critical yet underexplored methodology among business historians. It provides nuanced insights into the lived experiences of business actors that traditional archival research often overlooks. It also allows researchers to examine business forms and experiences poorly documented or absent from the archival record.
This roundtable aims to bring together a diverse group of historians who actively employ oral history interviews in their study of business history. The discussion will explore the current state of oral business history, the methodological challenges and opportunities it presents, and potential future directions.
Key themes include:
An assessment of key works in oral business history, identifying gaps in the literature, and exploring future research areas. How business historians can contribute to the broader field of oral history and, conversely, how oral history can expand business history research and narratives?
Exploration of new methodologies and technologies, such as AI in processing interview transcripts, for collecting and preserving personal business narratives.
Making oral history a public resource and other uses of oral business history. Presentation of ongoing oral history projects