The trading house: A relational and configurational insight into family businesses

Abstract

What analytical framework can we employ to conduct ethnographic investigation into family businesses? As sociological and anthropological perspectives increasingly extend their gaze beyond the legal confines of firms to include the kinship groups (household, business family) behind them, no existing integrative concept examines the sui generis organizations formed by these overlapping institutions. Based on fieldwork conducted among shopkeepers in rural France, this article proposes a relational and configurational approach to family business by developing an overarching category: the ‘trading house’. Combining Claude Lévi-Strauss’ analysis of the aristocratic house with feminist-inspired perspectives on domestic economy, the trading house refers to an interdependent group of (re)productive cooperation—comprising, at least, a business and a household—that, directly or indirectly, ensures the management of a transferable symbolic and material estate centered around a market activity. The relational perspective examines boundaries, resources, and interpersonal ties within the house as outcomes of an ongoing relational work, which delineates, blurs, and (dis)connects domestic, business and family spheres, all the while ensuring the historical continuity of the estate beyond its living representatives. The configurational perspective simultaneously draws attention to the (re)productive, monetary, and reputational interdependencies that bind and unite the members of the house across these shifting boundaries. This framework is particularly well-suited for understanding traditional small businesses in rural areas.