Merely maintaining traditions? Custodianship and its implications for place and community

As countless traditions around the world still stand the test of time, organization scholars have increasingly turned their attention to the practices, roles, relations and motivations of the traditions’ custodians. This emphasis, albeit interesting, often overlooks ‘where’ both traditions and its custodians reside and how place and custodianship relate to each other in the process of maintaining traditions across generations. Drawing upon a case study in the Greek island of Chios, where the agricultural practices of mastic growing have remained intact for hundreds of years, this paper reveals four forms of custodial work: enacting the community of the past, developing places, socializing younger generations and enforcing care for place. This work, beyond maintaining the tradition, also creates an intergenerational sense of place that motivates younger generations of community members to carry the torch. Equally important, the study identifies an unintended consequence of place-based custodial work, namely endangered community resilience. The paper contributes to studies of custodianship by revealing the ways in which custodians engage with place, embracing an intergenerational perspective, highlighting the role of care and shedding light on the ‘dark’ side of custodianship.