On the enactment of intellectual bridges between epistemic communities

This editorial relates to the development of intellectual bridges between two epistemic communities that are geographically distant, but both engaged in the production and dissemination of qualitative and critical accounting research. One community is based in Latin America, self-recognized as a qualitative accounting research epistemic community. The other one is primarily associated with the Global North and is often called interdisciplinary accounting research, of which the journal Critical Perspectives on Accounting is one of the significant institutions. These two communities developed relatively independently from one another, until the mid-2010s. This special issue editorial reflects on the formation and enactment of formal intellectual bridges between these two epistemic communities. This special issue came into being in the wake of this dynamic. We reflect on the nature of intellectual bridges, particularly the benefits and drawbacks arising from the travel of ideas along these bridges. One of our main points is that establishing intellectual bridges between these communities inevitably carries the threat of neocolonialization. In other words, to what extent is it realistic for bridging projects to aim for an ecology of knowledges which is committed to fairness and equality between the communities involved? On the one hand, we maintain that despite their fragility, intellectual bridges may help rejuvenate and enrich the epistemic communities involved. Each community may then be exposed to a web of similarities and differences that provide ideas for introspection. Bridges may also generate a meaningful and sincere dialogue between the communities concerned. Yet, on the other hand, we should not be naïve; while bridges can facilitate the rapprochement of different communities, they may also ironically contribute to their distancing, as neocolonialism can subtly infiltrate intercommunity relations and reproduce long-standing epistemic structures of domination.