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Postcards from the Front: Changing narratives in UK financial services

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  • Collins, David
  • Dewing, Ian
  • Russell, Peter

Abstract

This paper seeks to explore the methodological difficulties that confront those who would seek to explain, to account for and to intervene in social affairs. Noting the predominance of ‘behaviourist’ and ‘cognitivist’ accounts of the change process and the, recent, development of ‘narrative’ alternatives we reflect upon the craft of academic writing and upon the creative choices that fabricate our worlds and our understanding. Taking the Financial Services Authority (FSA) as our example we attempt to reveal the manner in which particular authorial strategies, that remain submerged with ‘behaviourist’ and ‘cognitivist’ accounts of change, precipitate distinctive forms of policy and action in the arena of financial services. Yet we also suggest that ‘narrative’ accounts of change, which base their authority on primary research, similarly, tend to downplay the political and poetical choices that shape their elaborations because they portray ‘context’ as natural and self-evident. By revealing the authorial strategies that shape our appreciation of ‘context’ and the organized world, more generally, we hope to encourage further reflection on the application of narrative approaches, and so, further discussion of the regulation of financial services. Through such analytical processes we aim to precipitate a ‘reciprocal’ appreciation of the problems associated with accounting for the lives and experiences of others.

Suggested Citation

  • Collins, David & Dewing, Ian & Russell, Peter, 2009. "Postcards from the Front: Changing narratives in UK financial services," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 20(8), pages 884-895.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:20:y:2009:i:8:p:884-895
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2009.05.004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. William L. Smith & David M. Boje & Kevin D. Melendrez, 2010. "The financial crisis and mark‐to‐market accounting," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 7(3), pages 281-303, August.
    3. Vassili Joannides & Nicolas Berland & D. T. Wickramasinghe, 2010. "Post-Hofstede diversity/cultural studies: what contributions to accounting knowledge?," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-00676570, HAL.
    4. Ashley, Louise & Empson, Laura, 2016. "Convenient fictions and inconvenient truths: Dilemmas of diversity at three leading accountancy firms," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 76-87.
    5. Vassili Joannides & Nicolas Berland & D. T. Wickramasinghe, 2010. "Post-Hofstede diversity/cultural studies: what contributions to accounting knowledge?," Post-Print hal-00676570, HAL.
    6. Vassili Joannides & Nicolas Berland & Danture Wickramasinghe, 2010. "Post-Hofstede diversity/cultural studies: what contributions to accounting knowledge?," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-01661685, HAL.

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