Abstract
Abstract: The paper explores the phenomenon of
witnessing the future through a case study of how
a Scandinavian new economy firm managed to
persuade a number of business journalists that it
was "the future". It describes the procedures and
rhetorical strategies that the manager deployed to
turn the journalists into witnesses. It compares the
manager's strategy to other cases of effective witnessing
in courtrooms and in science. It concludes
that the manager's persuasiveness is derived from
his ability to articulate a series of pointed contrasts
between the attractive working life within the firm
and the problematic work life elsewhere. Finally, it
notes that the manager's strategy enacts a timeworld
characterised by dramatic epochal changes,
which is radically different from the more stable
and knowable time-world that is enacted in
ordinary scientific discourses.
Key words: actor-network theory, witnessing,
new economy, future, epochalism
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Forum: Qualitative Social Research |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| ISSN | 1438-5627 |
| Publication status | Published - 2007 |