Abstract
Historical imagination is an established method of ensuring rigorous objectivity in historical research. This essay reconceptualizes historical imagination, not as a neutral tool for historiographic rigor, but as a reflexive and evaluative tool by which researchers can expose the processes by which institutions use rhetorical history. Drawing on critical reinterpretations of Collingwood’s notion of historical imagination offered by social theorists, this essay proposes an alternative use of historical imagination that embraces presentism to understand how rhetorical history is used to create, maintain and transform institutions. The essay demonstrates how imposing the present on the past can help reveal the institutional work of rhetorical history.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 68-80 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Management and Organizational History |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue number | 1-2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2026 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Business and International Management
- History
- Strategy and Management
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