Businessmen as folk ethnographers
(2008) In Ethnography 9(2). p.235-256- Abstract
- Before the rise of professional ethnography, untrained methods to investigate ‘other’ cultures prevailed among various Westerns actors: travelers, missionaries, colonial administrators, and traders. This article analyzes how such informal ethnography is still treated as an epistemic guide in a post-colonial and transnational business world. A particular case is examined: Swedish and Swedish-Polish businessmen
working in emerging markets in Poland and neighboring countries in Eastern Central Europe after the fall of Communism. Situated in what they regard as commercially attractive but relatively unknown cultures, these
businessmen oscillate between classic fieldwork and profitable control, pragmatically linking their... (More) - Before the rise of professional ethnography, untrained methods to investigate ‘other’ cultures prevailed among various Westerns actors: travelers, missionaries, colonial administrators, and traders. This article analyzes how such informal ethnography is still treated as an epistemic guide in a post-colonial and transnational business world. A particular case is examined: Swedish and Swedish-Polish businessmen
working in emerging markets in Poland and neighboring countries in Eastern Central Europe after the fall of Communism. Situated in what they regard as commercially attractive but relatively unknown cultures, these
businessmen oscillate between classic fieldwork and profitable control, pragmatically linking their eagerness for knowledge with their ambition to get things done. The overall vision is a folk version of ethnography,
rhetorically celebrated but practically complicated. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1054328
- author
- Wästerfors, David LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2008
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- folk ethnography, sociologi, emerging markets, business, rhetoric, culture, Eastern Europe, sociology
- in
- Ethnography
- volume
- 9
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 235 - 256
- publisher
- SAGE Publications
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000273116400004
- scopus:44949158803
- ISSN
- 1466-1381
- DOI
- 10.1177/1466138108089469
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 2dceed45-3b49-4b1d-89fb-5f41e2431797 (old id 1054328)
- alternative location
- http://eth.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/9/2/235
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 11:41:37
- date last changed
- 2022-03-28 01:42:22
@article{2dceed45-3b49-4b1d-89fb-5f41e2431797,
abstract = {{Before the rise of professional ethnography, untrained methods to investigate ‘other’ cultures prevailed among various Westerns actors: travelers, missionaries, colonial administrators, and traders. This article analyzes how such informal ethnography is still treated as an epistemic guide in a post-colonial and transnational business world. A particular case is examined: Swedish and Swedish-Polish businessmen<br/><br>
working in emerging markets in Poland and neighboring countries in Eastern Central Europe after the fall of Communism. Situated in what they regard as commercially attractive but relatively unknown cultures, these<br/><br>
businessmen oscillate between classic fieldwork and profitable control, pragmatically linking their eagerness for knowledge with their ambition to get things done. The overall vision is a folk version of ethnography,<br/><br>
rhetorically celebrated but practically complicated.}},
author = {{Wästerfors, David}},
issn = {{1466-1381}},
keywords = {{folk ethnography; sociologi; emerging markets; business; rhetoric; culture; Eastern Europe; sociology}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{235--256}},
publisher = {{SAGE Publications}},
series = {{Ethnography}},
title = {{Businessmen as folk ethnographers}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1466138108089469}},
doi = {{10.1177/1466138108089469}},
volume = {{9}},
year = {{2008}},
}