The role of non-corporeal Actant theory in historical research: A case study of Henry Wallace and the new deal
ISSN: 1751-1348
Article publication date: 11 July 2019
Issue publication date: 10 January 2020
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the role of non-corporeal Actant theory in historical research through a case study of the trajectory of the New Deal as one of the foremost institutions in the USA since its inception in the early 1930s.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors follow the trajectory of the New Deal through a focus on Vice President Henry A. Wallace. Drawing on ANTi-History, the authors view history as a powerful discourse for organizing understandings of the past and non-corporeal Actants as a key influence on making sense of (past) events.
Findings
The authors conclude that non-corporeal Actants influence the shaping of management and organization studies that serve paradoxically to obfuscate history and its relationship to the past.
Research limitations/implications
The authors drew on a series of published studies of Henry Wallace and archival material in the Roosevelt Library, but the study would benefit from an in-depth analysis of the Wallace archives.
Practical implications
The authors reveal the influences of non-corporeal Actants as a method for dealing with the past. The authors do this through the use of ANTi-History as a method of historical analysis.
Social implications
The past is an important source of understanding of the present and future; this innovative approach increases the potential to understand.
Originality/value
Decisions are often black boxes. Non-Corporeal Actants are a new tool with which to see the underlying inputs of choice.
Keywords
Citation
Hartt, C.M., Mills, A.J. and Helms Mills, J. (2020), "The role of non-corporeal Actant theory in historical research: A case study of Henry Wallace and the new deal", Journal of Management History, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 60-76. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMH-01-2019-0004
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited