University of Sussex
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

Corporate memory: historical revisionism, legitimation and the invention of tradition in a multinational mining company

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 19:34 authored by Dinah RajakDinah Rajak
In the world of neoliberal corporate capitalism the corporation is commonly represented as both asocial and ahistorical, as little more than the sum of its shareholders. But even within volatile capital markets, the need to project a corporate image of stability and confidence makes the narrative and performative aspects of corporate practice increasingly important. In Anglo American, one of the world's largest mining companies, that story has been told as much through the reinvention of a South African past as through the vision of a ‘global future’ making foundational myths, tradition and, not least, nostalgia vital corporate assets. Such corporate mythologizing—and the invention of corporate tradition—equips the ‘corporate citizen’ with both memory and moral self. This article argues that narratives of corporate virtue play a key role, not as the antithesis to the logic of capitalism nor as a company's conscience, but as the warm-blooded twin to the business of mineral extraction and the mechanism through which Anglo American's economic and political hegemony in South Africa is legitimated.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review

ISSN

1081-6976

Publisher

American Anthropological Association

Issue

2

Volume

37

Page range

259-280

Department affiliated with

  • Anthropology Publications

Notes

Article first published online: 23 OCT 2014

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2015-01-15

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC