Business History in Times of Disruption: Embracing Complexity and Diversity
Annual Meeting of the Business History Conference
Sheraton Mexico City María Isabel Hotel
Ciudad de México, México
April 7-9, 2022
The Covid-19 crisis arrived with little warning, disrupting global business and trade. Industries as different as tourism, retail, and manufacturing were plunged into disarray by travel restrictions, broken supply chains, and quarantines. The pandemic also underscored the growing dangers posed by economic inequality and environmental degradation, hinting at a more tumultuous future. We have, it seems, entered into a new age of uncertainty.
Informed by these developments, the 2022 Business History Conference will explore the diverse ways that entrepreneurs, firms, and organizations coped with complexity, uncertainty, and disruption over the long run. The Program Committee welcomes individual papers and session proposals that explore this theme. Submissions can address a host of topics: the historical challenge posed by complexity and uncertainty; the stories told about periods of turbulence, disruption and chaos; the ways that disruptions have engendered adaptation and resilience in different times and places; and any number of related subjects.
The Program Committee is especially interested in sessions and papers that contribute to a more inclusive, global, and pluralistic vision of business history. For example, submissions could address diverse geographic locales and time periods; analyze the different ways that race, class, and gender have affected the ability of entrepreneurs and firms to survive and thrive in previous eras of uncertainty; address the role of governments, politics, and power in deciding winners and losers in tumultuous times; and any number of similar subjects. Finally, the organizers welcome proposals with innovative formats that promote discussion on how to conduct research and teach business history in the so-called post-pandemic era.
While we encourage submissions to take up these themes, papers addressing all other topics will receive equal consideration by the program committee in accordance with BHC policy. Graduate students and emerging scholars in the field are particularly encouraged to attend. Graduate students and recent PhDs whose papers are accepted for the meeting may apply for funds to partially defray their travel costs; information will be sent out once the program has been set.
The Program Committee includes Stephen Mihm (University of Georgia) (co-chair); Paloma Fernández Pérez (Universitat de Barcelona) (co-chair); Gustavo del Angel (Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, CIDE); Christy Chapin (University of Maryland); Ai Hisano (Kyoto University, 京都大学, Kyōto daigaku); Chinmay Tumbe (Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, IIMA); along with BHC President Andrea Lluch (CONICET and Universidad de los Andes).
Proposals and Submissions
Proposals may be submitted for individual papers or entire sessions. Each presentation proposal should include a one-page (300 words) abstract and one-page curriculum vitae (CV) for each participant. Individual paper submissions will be combined into new sessions defined by themes chosen at the Program Committee’s discretion.
Session proposals (unless a roundtable) should include a maximum of four individual presentations. All session proposals should have a cover letter containing a title, a one-paragraph session description, and the names and affiliations of a recruited chair, as well as the contact information for the session organizer.
To submit a proposal, go to https://thebhc.org/proposal-instructions
For the second time, the BHC annual meeting will include two or three sessions with Spanish and Portuguese presentations to encourage the participation of colleagues from Latin America. In addition, the second edition of the Workshop on 'Latin American Business in a Global and Historical Perspective' will be organized on April 7th, co-organized with the Mexican Economic History Association. A separate Call for Papers for this Workshop will be circulated later. In the meantime, for more details about this special event, contact the AMHE at: amhe.historia@gmail.com.
The deadline for receipt of all paper and session proposals is October 1, 2021. Notification of acceptance will be given by November 15, 2021. Information on registration and fees for participation and the provisional program will be announced at the beginning of February 2022. Everyone appearing on the program must register for the meeting.
Hotel Venue and the Coronavirus Situation
The BHC Conference 2022 will take place at the Sheraton Mexico City Maria Isabel Hotel (https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/mexis-sheraton-mexico-city-maria-isabel-hotel/. Special rates for standard rooms are $145 single/double occupancy, and deluxe rooms are $175 single/double plus tax.
Of course, we cannot yet determine if it will be possible for us to gather in Mexico City. We will closely follow the Coronavirus Disease situation. If necessary, we will switch to an online (or hybrid) mode in order to guarantee safe participation from presenters around the world.
General questions regarding the BHC's 2022 annual meeting may be sent to conference coordinator Roger Horowitz, rh@udel.edu.
Prizes
The K. Austin Kerr Prize will be awarded for the best first paper delivered by a new scholar at the annual meeting. A "new scholar" is defined as a doctoral candidate or a Ph.D. whose degree is less than three years old. You must nominate your paper for this prize on the proposal submission page where indicated. Please check the appropriate box if your proposal qualifies for inclusion in the Kerr Prize competition.
The BHC awards the Herman E. Krooss Prize for the best English-language dissertation in business history by a recent Ph.D. in history, economics, business administration, history of science and technology, sociology, law, communications, and related fields. To be eligible, dissertations must be completed in the three calendar years immediately prior to the 2022 annual meeting and may only be submitted once for the Krooss prize. After the Krooss committee has reviewed the proposals, it will ask semi-finalists to submit copies of their dissertations. Finalists will present summaries of their dissertations at a plenary session and will receive a partial subsidy of their travel costs to the meeting. Proposals accepted for the Krooss Prize are not eligible for the Kerr Prize. If you wish to apply for this prize, submit a cover letter, dissertation abstract, and author's c.v., using this form: https://thebhc.org/krooss-prize-nomination. The deadline for proposals for the Krooss prize is October 1, 2021.
The Martha Moore Trescott Award is awarded to the best paper at the intersection of business history and the history of technology presented at the Business History Conference's annual meeting. The prize will be awarded on the basis of the written version of a paper to be presented at the annual meeting. Those wishing to be considered for the prize must indicate so at the time of submitting their original proposal for the meeting. Self-nominating scholars must also provide the written paper to the Chair of the committee not less than one month before the annual meeting. Though the prize will be awarded on the basis of the written paper, candidates must register for the meeting and present their work. Scholars who are eligible for the Kerr Prize may also enter the Trescott Prize. There are no other restrictions on eligibility. Written papers should be no longer than 4,000 words (exclusive of notes, bibliography, appendices, figures, and illustrations).
Doctoral Colloquium in Business History
The Doctoral Colloquium in Business History will be held in conjunction with the BHC annual meeting. This prestigious workshop, funded by Cambridge University Press, will occur in Mexico City (April 7th). Typically limited to ten students, the colloquium is open to early-stage doctoral candidates pursuing dissertation research within the broad field of business history, from any relevant discipline. Topics (see https://thebhc.org/doctoral-colloquia for past examples) may range from the early modern era to the present and explore societies across the globe. Participants work intensively with a distinguished group of BHC-affiliated scholars (including at least two BHC officers), discussing dissertation proposals, relevant literatures and research strategies, and career trajectories. Typically, participants receive partial stipends to defray the costs of travel to the annual meeting.
Applications for the doctoral colloquium are due by Monday, November 15, 2021, via email to Carol Lockman (clockman@Hagley.org) and should include: a statement of interest; CV; preliminary or final dissertation prospectus (10-15 pages); and a letter of support from your dissertation supervisor (or prospective supervisor). Questions about the colloquium should be sent to its director, Prof. Eric Godelier (eric.godelier@polytechnique.edu). Applicants will receive notification of the selection committee's decisions by Monday, December 20, 2021.