Industrial heritage, Capitalism and Business

This essay first locates the idea of industrial heritage in relation to the dominant future orientation of capitalism and business, as well as concepts such as Schumpeter’s notion of “creative destruction”. Thus situated, industrial heritage appears somewhat paradoxical and problematic, raising unsettling questions about the processes inherent to capitalism and business and their implications for social and cultural developments. Thereafter we turn to a consideration of why and how attention to industrial heritage might be usefully incorporated into the work of scholars in business, management and organization studies.