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Accounting colonization: Three case studies in further education

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  • Oakes, Helen
  • Berry, Anthony

Abstract

The colonizing power of accounting in the public domain was linked to coercive institutional processes [Broadbent J, Laughlin R. Developing empirical research: an example informed by a Habermasian approach. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal 1997;10(5):622–48]. To further explore processes of accounting change in the public domain, three linked case studies were undertaken, from a Habermasian standpoint, at a local Learning and Skills Council and two Further Education Colleges in England. Adopting a critical constructionist methodology, three interpretations of the data were developed suggesting that aspects of accounting were colonizing, implicated in legitimation and rationality crises and implicated in ambivalent managerial roles. A double hermeneutic, based in phenomenology, was then undertaken to critique the theory which underpinned these interpretations, leading to the development of an extended theory of colonization to include coercive (mock obedience; real obedience), instrumental (devious compliance; dialogic compliance) and discursive processes (discursively pathological; discursively benign). The way accounting colonization is theorised has implications for the critical theme of how desired accounting changes might be identified and initiated.

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  • Oakes, Helen & Berry, Anthony, 2009. "Accounting colonization: Three case studies in further education," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 343-378.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:20:y:2009:i:3:p:343-378
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2007.06.006
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    4. Ulrike Schmidt & Thomas Günther, 2016. "Public sector accounting research in the higher education sector: a systematic literature review," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 66(4), pages 235-265, December.
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    6. Morales, Jérémy & Sponem, Samuel, 2017. "You too can have a critical perspective! 25 years of Critical Perspectives on Accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 149-166.
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    8. Sharma, Umesh & Lawrence, Stewart, 2015. "Power, politics and privatization: A tale of a telecommunications company," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 13-29.
    9. Masquefa, Bertrand & Gallhofer, Sonja & Haslam, Jim, 2017. "Developing appreciation of micro-organizational processes of accounting change and indicating pathways to more ‘Enabling Accounting’ in a micro-organizational domain of research and development," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 59-82.
    10. Ferry, Laurence & Haslam, Jim & Green, Stuart & Adegbite, Emmanuel & Gebreiter, Florian, 2021. "Accounting colonization, emancipation and instrumental compliance in Nigeria," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
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