Revisiting the past – extending our scope: a further invitation

Citation

Brannan, M., Nocker, M. and Yanow, M.R.a.D. (2014), "Revisiting the past – extending our scope: a further invitation", Journal of Organizational Ethnography, Vol. 3 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOE-02-2014-0005

Revisiting the past – extending our scope: a further invitation

Article Type: Editorial From: Journal of Organizational Ethnography, Volume 3, Issue 1

As noted in the editorial in Issue 2(2) of this journal (Yanow, 2013a,b), after the comments on Morey and Luthans’ (1987/2013) reprinted article had been assembled (Luthans et al., 2013), the editor of that symposium, Dvora Yanow, had occasion to meet Jean-François Chanlat, professor of business anthropology at the University of Paris-Dauphine, and she immediately recognized that the comments did not include any reflections on anthropologically influenced French organizational studies. It was too late to remedy for that issue, but with Mike Rowe's agreement, she invited Professor Chanlat to pen a reply, and this appears here.

At the end of his comment, which details Marcel Mauss’ contributions to organizational studies scholarship, Professor Chanlat throws down a gauntlet to the English-writing world that pursues this research. We need, he says, more opportunities to bridge the English- and non-English-writing worlds of organizational studies. We need to know what is being published in languages other than English, as well as more opportunities to meet and exchange ideas across linguistic borders. The editors of the Journal of Organizational Ethnography are happy to pick up this challenge. Given the journal's origins in the Ethnography Symposium, a venture that sought to connect, encourage and celebrate ethnographic research, we have always been keen to embrace as wide a range of contributions as possible. In that spirit, we welcome Professor Chanlat's suggestion.

We invite suggestions of articles that are not currently available in English and that might be republished in translation in this journal. We would not like to limit this invitation to particular languages or countries and would welcome suggestions that include classic and important works but, in addition, might point us toward newer, fresh and exciting works. We anticipate this will throw up problems and challenges, navigating the world of publishing, of rights, etc. But it is a path we wish to explore. Proposals might, in the first instance, be addressed to the editors.

Matthew Brannan, Manuela Nocker, Mike Rowe and Dvora Yanow

References

Luthans, F., Milosevic, I., Bechky, B.A., Schein, E.A., Wright, S., van Maanen, J. and Greenwood, D.J. (2013), “Reclaiming “anthropology: the forgotten behavioral science in management history” – commentaries”, Journal of Organizational Ethnography, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 92-116

Morey, N.C. and Luthans, F. (1987/2013), “Anthropology: the forgotten behavioral science in management history”, Journal of Organizational Ethnography, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 82-91

Yanow, D. (2013a), “Editorial: on disciplinary histories – borrowing anthropology into organisational studies”, Journal of Organizational Ethnography, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 76-81

Yanow, D. (2013b), “Editorial: Extending the assessment of anthropology's history in organizational studies – an invitation”, Journal of Organizational Ethnography, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 124-125