Business History as Cultural History: A Complimentary View

The paper engages with the larger question of how cultural heritage becomes taken for granted and offers a complimentary view to the anthropological ʻCopenhagen School’ of business history, one that draws attention to the way corporate wealth directly and indirectly influences the culture available to a nation. The approach is illustrated, taking departure in the case of Carl Jacobsen, an élite philanthropist, owner and founder of the New Carlsberg brewery, who came to have a profound effect on Danish cultural heritage through the establishment of the New Carlsberg Glyptotek and the New Carlsberg Foundation. The paper investigates the mechanisms by which culture becomes valued and taken for granted, using the concepts of framing, canonization and consecration, and illustrates the prominence of each mechanism with examples from the early work of Carl Jacobsen, to the contemporary work of the New Carlsberg Glyptotek and the New Carlsberg Foundation. In doing so the paper hopes to elucidate the mechanisms of cultural meaning-making and foster attentiveness to the intimate connection between business and culture, with implications for business and cultural historians and students of these fields.