CfP: PDW on International Business and Civilizations

PDW Call for Papers

International Business and Civilizations

Deadline: Friday, January 15, 2017 for abstracts

Thursday, March 30, 2017
Embassy Suites Denver Downtown
1420 Stout Street, Denver, Colorado, 80202, USA

Organized under the auspice of the BHC workshop committee Contact: Teresa da Silva Lopes (teresa.lopes@york.ac.uk), Heidi Tworek (heidi.tworek@ubc.ca) and Christina Lubinski (cl.mpp@cbs.dk) 

In recent years, both business historians and international business scholars have grown increasingly interested in the promise of using historical sources, methods and reasoning in international business research. History, it has been argued, can be valuable in addressing a number of limitations in traditional approaches, including in accounting for contexts and institutions, in understanding the relationship between international entrepreneurship and economic change, in providing multi-­‐‑ level perspectives on international business and in showing connections between business and regional ways of life. Business historians have for long engaged with business behavior across borders and international opportunity recognition and are increasingly making their work pertinent to new audiences, in international business scholarship and at business schools.

With the Business History Conference devoting the 2017 annual conference to the theme of “civilizations,” the preceding one-­‐‑day Paper Development Workshop offers developmental feedback to papers explicitly targeting the double audience of international business and history scholars. The purpose of the workshop is to support the development of historical research on international business for publication in high-­‐‑quality outlets, including “The Routledge Companion to the Makers of Global Business.” In addition, workshop participants will discuss how to address the common challenge of writing for a dual audience of historians and international business scholars, including more explicitly presenting the engagement with theory and demonstrating the contribution historical methods and sources make to studying international business phenomena.

We invite papers that explore broad connections between international business and society, the mutual influences of business and culture, the impact of international business activities on home and host countries, the emergence of standards for moral and legitimate international business behavior, and the positive and negative effects of business activities across borders and over time. Authors are encouraged to address what “global” means in the context of their respective work, how the global nature of business changed over time and which actors contributed to this change. All papers should expand current thinking on international business by addressing long-­‐‑term developments based on historical sources and methodologies and by exploring arguments and methods capable of explaining change over time.

We welcome work-­‐‑in-­‐‑progress at all stages of development. Interested scholars may submit two types of submissions for discussion: full research papers (8,000 words) or paper ideas (1,000 to 3,000 words). The workshop will take place immediately before the BHC meeting and at the same location. Paper selection and registration is separate from the annual meeting; participation in both BHC meeting and workshop is possible. There will be a modest registration fee to recover catering costs.

If you are interested in participating, please submit an initial abstract of max. 300 words and a one-­‐‑page CV before Friday, January 15, 2017 to Teresa da Silva Lopes (teresa.lopes@york.ac.uk), Heidi Tworek (heidi.tworek@ubc.ca) and Christina Lubinski (cl.mpp@cbs.dk). Invitations to the PDW will be sent out before February 15, 2017. Full paper (8,000 to 12,000 words) or paper idea (1,000 to 3,000 words) submissions will be expected by Friday, March 3, 2017. Please feel free to contact the organizers with your paper ideas if you are interested in early feedback or want to inquire about the fit of your idea with this PDW.