Bolagsstämman

En homosocial ritual i marknadens mitt

Abstract

The elaborate ritual form of annual general meetings held by shareholders of large corporations is studied in the context of a project dealing with masculinity and power. Observations from 35 meetings in Sweden show how the basic ritual has been developed by new acts like showing video presentations of the company. The meetings have become more spectacular, but the visual shows tend to turn the shareholders into spectators, a highly contradictory position, since they are in fact supposed to be the ones in control. The business elite is a male homosocial group with a strict dress code that tends to exclude women by their appearance. Although the meetings are controlled by the board and the inner circle of shareholders, there is also an interesting form of free speecha llowed. Asking critical questions adds excitement to the meetings and creates an ambivalence about power and control, a negotiating of masculinities within the ritual.