International journal to strengthen the dialogue between research and business

Anthropology has a long history of research on different branches of economy and organisation. However, over the last two decades there has been a significant growth in anthropological research in areas such as management, design, innovation, marketing, consumption and finance.

The new editorial team of the international Journal of Business Anthropology will contribute to this development when the journal transfers from University of Pennsylvania to the Department of Anthropology at UCPH, where three editors will be responsible for the content (see box).

Moreover, they want to strengthen the dialogue between research and practice:

“Since the establishment of the journal about 10 years ago, the idea has been to create a platform for business anthropology that both researchers and professionals will find valuable. This is something we will do our best to continue. In fact, I dare to say that we, particularly in Denmark, have a good chance of succeeding with this,” Associate Professor and leading editor Kasper Tang Vangkilde says.

Why is the journal moving to Denmark?

According to Vangkilde, it is no coincidence that the journal is now moving to Denmark where it was originally established at the Copenhagen Business School.

“I believe that it shows the strong, international position that both the UCPH Department of Anthropology and business anthropology in Denmark more broadly have gained. In a way, the move can be seen as a pat on the back to everyone working within this field.”

It is at the top of our ’to-do-list’ to promote the journal more broadly. We wish to draw more attention to the journal and the fact that it deals with topics and questions that many people are engaged with in their professional work.

Vangkilde emphasises that the field’s position in Denmark is not only rooted in anthropological research, but also reflects that many anthropologists are doing great work in various organisations and corporations. An increasing number of anthropologists are being employed in positions focused on business-oriented and organisational questions, thus bringing their anthropological insights and competences into play every day.

This development also gives the Journal of Business Anthropology an untapped potential, he believes.

“It is at the top of our ’to-do-list’ to promote the journal more broadly. We wish to draw more attention to the journal and to the fact that it deals with topics and questions that many people are engaged with in their professional work – in Denmark and internationally.”

A journal promoting new formats

At the Department of Anthropology, the journal is anchored in the researcher group ’Organisation and Economy’, colloquially known as OREO. But since the journal is international, it will still publish a variety of contributions on subjects from all over the world.

Yet, the editors plan is to introduce more alternative formats – e.g., short films, podcasts and posters.

“The core of the journal will continue to be double-blind peer-reviewed research articles, but if we want to successfully generate a dialogue between research and practice, it is crucial that we do not only have publication formats which, in practice, only researchers have time to publish in,” Kasper Tang Vangkilde says. He also stresses that the ambition is to build a broad readership with a common interest in business anthropology.

The first issue of the journal edited by the new editorial team will be published in the autumn of 2022.