Business Anthropology

Business refers to the buying and selling of goods and services in the marketplace, and the organized economic activities attendant to those practices—for example, product and service design, industrial manufacturing and supply chain logistics, consumer marketing, advertising, and branding. In the broadest sense, business anthropology is inquiry or practice within the business domain that is grounded in anthropological epistemology, methodology, and/or substantive knowledge. In the early decades of the 20th century, anthropologists’ research and problem-solving interests focused...

Business refers to the buying and selling of goods and services in the marketplace, and the organized economic activities attendant to those practices—for example, product and service design, industrial manufacturing and supply chain logistics, consumer marketing, advertising, and branding. In the broadest sense, business anthropology is inquiry or practice within the business domain that is grounded in anthropological epistemology, methodology, and/or substantive knowledge. In the early decades of the 20th century, anthropologists’ research and problem-solving interests focused primarily on the industrial manufacturing dimensions of the business domain, and they were influenced by the traditions of other disciplines such as industrial psychology through the Human Relations School, a theory of organizational management that posits a direct relationship between worker satisfaction and productivity. After World War II, anthropological research on industry experienced fragmentation into several streams of literature, including neo-Marxian approaches and studies of industrialization in non-Western societies. Since the end of the Cold War, anthropological studies of business have been reinvigorated as increasing numbers of academic anthropologists have acknowledged the contemporary marketplace and its attendant activities as worthy of serious inquiry. At the same time, anthropological epistemology and methods have been assimilated into major corporate venues as more anthropologists become practitioners in the private sector, stimulating self-reflection on our discipline’s relationship with business. One consequence of anthropology’s nearly century-long involvement with business is that the landscape of the field has become increasingly complex, with linkages to several other disciplines and traditions. Another result of this involvement is that our disciplinary perspectives gradually have shifted. While business once was viewed primarily as an external and potentially hostile “other,” with which anthropologists had only arm’s length relationships, contemporary views are more varied and nuanced, and they include those that conceptualize business as an institutional field in which anthropologists may hold engaged positions. Due to this evolving situation, the worlds of business are recognized as deserving of our understanding, interpretation, and critical assessment; yet, this dawning awareness brings its own quandaries with respect to positionality and ethics. Accordingly, items have been selected for inclusion here on the basis of three criteria: understanding the context for the historical development of business anthropology as one of the institutional anthropologies (i.e., business as a social institution); gaining an overview and an in-depth perspective on the major dimensions of the field; and providing access to literature reflecting empirical research and practice conducted by anthropologists in the business domain.