Research Methods Centre- Brown Bag Seminar: “Collective Memory & Memory Work”

In this paper, we review and synthesize the growing sociology-informed literature on organizational memory studies, which focuses on collective memory as a social construction of the past. To organize this literature, we present an ecological view of collective memory. Organizations, from this perspective, are conceived of as both constituted by a variety of mnemonic communities and, simultaneously, part of a broader ecology of mnemonic communities. We use this framework to guide our review of the various forms of memory work within and between mnemonic communities. Our review shows that much of the sociologically informed research has focused on memory work within communities. We also identify an emerging interest in the study of memory work between communities. In conclusion, we discuss possible future directions and outline a three point agenda for future research that calls for a better understanding of the relational dynamics of memory with a focus on the organizing of memory, the embeddedness of memory work, and the construction of experiences of the past.