2nd World Congress of Business History - 24th Congress of the European Business History Association
As we entered the final decade of the twentieth century a shared sense of optimism and
certainty towards the twenty first century pervaded. The triumph of liberal democracy was
lauded and the march towards economic integration and globalization relentless. However,
as we approach the end of the second decade of the twenty first century, several events and
developments have tempered such optimism. The rise of China as the “workshop of the
world” has had economic implications across the globe and challenged conventional models
of industrialization and the prerequisite governing institutions to bring about that process.
Several crises have beset national and global economies in recent memory, including the
financial crisis following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the rise of neo-nationalism and
populism, “lost decades” of economic growth, the fallout from 9-11, and Brexit, to name but
a few. Furthermore, looming challenges associated with demographic transition,
technological and climate change shroud the prospects of our future society and economy
with a degree of uncertainty, casting into doubt what once seemed the inevitable path
towards political democratization and economic globalization. Rather than witnessing any “end
of history”, understanding change over time remains of central importance to our discipline
and wider society. We therefore call on Business Historians to come together and examine
“Business History in a Changing World” during the 2nd World Congress on Business History to be held in Nagoya, on September 10-12, 2020, shortly after the Tokyo Olympics.
Reflecting the ever-changing world of business, the discipline of Business History has been far from static. In recent decades there has been a dramatic diversification in both research topics and methods following on from the now classic works of Chandler et al. The emergence of research relating to alternative historical approaches and organizational science, and those which incorporate quantitative methods and/or embraces the “cultural turn”; the institutionalization of Business History research with the establishment of academic societies and academic journals; the internationalization of the field, etc., are all encouraging trends in the evidence of a vibrant research field. The program committee thus welcomes papers/panels from postgraduate, early career and established scholars on a wide-range of topics and various dimensions of “Business History in a Changing World” these include, but are not limited to:
Papers with other foci, however, will also be considered.
The organizers also welcome submissions with alternative formats, such as workshops, roundtable debates/discussions, and poster presentations.
The EBHA best dissertation prize will be organized during the congress
There are three typical submission formats:
Please use the congress upload platform http://ebha.org/public/C10
Minoru Sawai (Nanzan University, Nagoya, Japan), President of the Business History Society of Japan
Pierre-Yves Donzé (EBHA)
Andrea Lluch (AEHA)
Andrea H. Schneider (GUG)
Takashi Shimizu (BHSJ)
Teresa de Silva-Lopez (BHC)
More information on the World Congress on Business History can be found under www.worldcbh.org
Follow us on facebook @WorldCBH