ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on the impact of warfare, gender, and memory on the development of Imperial Airways (British Airways’ predecessor airline). Through a ‘close reading’ of archival materials and published histories, we examine how wartime experience prior, during, and following World War I came to shape the development of gendered organizational processes and practices in the airline’s emergent organizational culture from 1924–1939. Gender is theorized from a feminist poststructuralist position serving to problematize singular notions of power. Analysis of culture is explored through an ANTi-History and microhistorical approach revealing how history is produced and constitutes the ‘sense’ of organization. We examine how references to warfare are introduced into the narratives of Imperial Airways and its predecessor airlines, how warfare is utilized in the airline’s historical accounts, and how this influences our understanding of gender over time. Findings suggest two key aspects of memory at play. Memory of warfare is more embedded in cultural practices (e.g. piloting as male only) and symbolism (e.g. military-style pilots’ uniforms) than in extant narratives of the time. However, despite the Women’s Royal Air Force in 1918 and exploits of pre-war female flyers, women’s role in warfare was largely forgotten at all levels of the airline.

摘要

本文着眼于战争，性别和记忆力对帝国航空公司（英国航空公司的前身航空公司）发展的影响。通过“仔细阅读”档案材料和已出版的历史，我们考察了第一次世界大战之前，期间和之后的战时经验如何影响1924年至1939年航空公司新兴组织文化中性别化组织过程和实践的发展。性别是从女权主义的后结构主义者的立场理论化的，该问题用于质疑单一的权力观念。通过ANTi-History和微观历史方法探索文化分析，揭示历史如何产生并构成组织的“感觉”。我们研究了帝国战争及其前身航空公司在叙事中如何引入战争的内容，如何在航空公司的历史记录中使用战争，以及这如何影响我们对性别的了解。研究结果表明了记忆发挥的两个关键方面。与当时的叙事相比，战争的记忆更多地嵌入文化实践（例如，仅男性飞行员）和象征主义（例如，军事风格的飞行员制服）中。然而，尽管1918年英国皇家空军启用了女性战机，但战前的女性传单受到了广泛利用，但在航空公司的各个层面上，女性在战争中的作用都被很大程度上遗忘了。