Erhvervshistorie og den materielle vending. Non-humane aktører i en mellemstor familieejet virksomhed

Instead of a traditional business history approach, this article analyses the history of the company A/S Alfenide (called DFA) with an outset in its products (spoons), its machinery (presses) and its material (stainless steel). In short, the analysis focuses on the materiality of the enterprise. The purpose is to investigate, whether a focus on the doing of things inspired by the material turn can supplement the usual analytical strategies and models of explanation in business history.DFA was a typical Danish medium-sized company that existed almost 100 years, but among other things failed to change strategy when the international competition intensified in the decades after World War 2. Many Danes have used its products in restaurants, on ferries, and at home. The DFA case shows that a focus on materiality in business history can reveal the devil in the detail, in short the many daily micro processes involving human and non-human actors, which determine success or failure for a company. Instead of a history of big decisions easily placeable in time and space, the story becomes a history of the muddy everyday.