IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/aaajpp/v28y2015i5p773-808.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Making institutional accounting research critical: dead end or new beginning?

Author

Listed:
  • Sven Modell

Abstract

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to review extant accounting research combining institutional and critical theories to examine whether the paradigmatic tensions associated with such research can be alleviated whilst engendering politically engaged scholarship aimed at facilitating processes of emancipation in organisational fields. Design/methodology/approach - – The paper provides a review of relevant accounting research and offers recommendations for how to combine institutional and critical research approaches in a paradigmatically consistent way. Findings - – Extant accounting research combining institutional and critical theories has not dealt effectively with the partly inter-related problems of ontological drift (i.e. misalignment of ontological assumptions and epistemological commitments) and the conflation of notions of agency and structure. If such problems remain unaddressed institutional research aimed at generating politically engaged scholarship and human emancipation is unlikely to progress in a paradigmatically consistent direction. Recommendations for how to address these issues, grounded in recent advances in critical realism, are elaborated upon. This results in a contingent view of the ontological possibilities of emancipation in organisational fields as well as the epistemological premises that need to be filled to engender processes of emancipation. Originality/value - – The paper reviews an emerging body of research seeking to radicalise institutional accounting research and enhance its contributions to democratic debate in organisations and society. It also outlines how some pertinent paradigmatic tensions associated with such research may be addressed.

Suggested Citation

  • Sven Modell, 2015. "Making institutional accounting research critical: dead end or new beginning?," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(5), pages 773-808, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:aaajpp:v:28:y:2015:i:5:p:773-808
    DOI: 10.1108/AAAJ-09-2013-1457
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/AAAJ-09-2013-1457/full/html?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/AAAJ-09-2013-1457/full/pdf?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/AAAJ-09-2013-1457?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Clune, Conor & O’Dwyer, Brendan, 2020. "Organizing dissonance through institutional work: The embedding of social and environmental accountability in an investment field," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    2. Maurizio Cisi & Francesca Alice Centrone, 2021. "The Human Capital for Value Creation and Social Impact: The Interpretation of the IR’s HC Definition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-19, June.
    3. Peda, Peeter & Vinnari, Eija, 2020. "The discursive legitimation of profit in public-private service delivery," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    4. Modell, Sven, 2017. "Critical realist accounting research: In search of its emancipatory potential," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 20-35.
    5. Stoica Dragos Andrei & Dobre Florin & Nechita Elena, 2020. "IFRS implementation in Romania. Insights from a professional’s perspective," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 14(1), pages 256-262, July.
    6. Modell, Sven & Vinnari, Eija & Lukka, Kari, 2017. "On the virtues and vices of combining theories: The case of institutional and actor-network theories in accounting research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 62-78.
    7. Mutch, Alistair, 2020. "Margaret Archer and a morphogenetic take on strategy," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    8. Tweedie, Dale, 2018. "After Habermas: Applying Axel Honneth’s critical theory in accounting research," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 39-55.
    9. Ozdil, Esin & Hoque, Zahirul, 2017. "Budgetary change at a university: A narrative inquiry," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 316-328.
    10. Gallhofer, Sonja & Haslam, Jim, 2019. "Some reflections on the construct of emancipatory accounting: Shifting meaning and the possibilities of a new pragmatism," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eme:aaajpp:v:28:y:2015:i:5:p:773-808. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Emerald Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.