From the particular to the general: memory, oral history, and organizational studies

Abstract

Organizational memory studies have been criticized for their instrumental, ahistorical view of memory. Alternatively, Rowlinson, Booth, Clark, Delahaye and Procter (2010) proposed the structural approach of memory studies from sociology and history, in which the memory considered is supra-individual, accessed through the study of celebrations and monuments. Consequently, individual memory and Oral History as epistemological options for understanding a collectivity in time and space ended up in the background. The article aims to propose Oral History as a theoretical and methodological possibility for memory studies in organizations, bringing the discussion (1) about the different historiographies of memory studies and Oral History, as well as their respective links with organizational research, and (2) two possible ways to move from individual to social memory, presenting classic examples from the Oral History literature.

Keywords

• memória
• história oral
• estudos organizacionais históricos
• método