IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/crpeac/v46y2017icp54-74.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Governmentality and identity construction through 50 years of personal income tax returns: The case of an immigrant couple in Canada

Author

Listed:
  • Bujaki, Merridee L.
  • Gaudet, Stéphanie
  • Iuliano, Rosa M.

Abstract

Drawing principally on Giddens’ concept of identity construction, Foucault's work on governmentality and discipline, and using a sociological life course perspective, we explore how income tax returns filed over five decades by a refugee couple in Canada construct and discipline their identities. By exploring employment, family, and housing trajectories as revealed in their income tax returns, we trace the construction and reshaping of the couple's identities over time since their arrival in Canada. We find the identity constructed by tax returns filed by the husband is primarily that of ‘entrepreneur’, while the wife's identity is primarily as a ‘dependent’. We explore how various identities are manifest in their income tax returns and how the everyday experience of submitting an annual income tax return shapes and disciplines each taxpayer's identity over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Bujaki, Merridee L. & Gaudet, Stéphanie & Iuliano, Rosa M., 2017. "Governmentality and identity construction through 50 years of personal income tax returns: The case of an immigrant couple in Canada," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 54-74.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:46:y:2017:i:c:p:54-74
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2017.02.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1045235417300217
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.cpa.2017.02.005?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.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Annisette, Marcia & Trivedi, Viswanath Umashanker, 2013. "Globalization, paradox and the (un)making of identities: Immigrant Chartered Accountants of India in Canada," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 1-29.
    2. Mats Alvesson & Hugh Willmott, 2002. "Identity Regulation as Organizational Control: Producing the Appropriate Individual," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(5), pages 619-644, July.
    3. Bigoni, Michele & Funnell, Warwick, 2015. "Ancestors of governmentality: Accounting and pastoral power in the 15th century," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 160-176.
    4. Dean Neu, 2012. "Accounting and Undocumented Work," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 13-37, March.
    5. Graham, Cameron, 2010. "Accounting and the construction of the retired person," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 23-46, January.
    6. Morales, Jérémy & Gendron, Yves & Guénin-Paracini, Henri, 2014. "State privatization and the unrelenting expansion of neoliberalism: The case of the Greek financial crisis," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 423-445.
    7. Lesia Nedoluzhko & Victor Agadjanian, 2010. "Marriage, childbearing, and migration in Kyrgyzstan: Exploring interdependencies," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 22(7), pages 159-188.
    8. Ingrid Jeacle, 2009. "Accounting and everyday life: towards a cultural context for accounting research," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 6(3), pages 120-136, July.
    9. Lynda C. Taylor & Robert W. Scapens, 2016. "The role of identity and image in shaping management accounting change," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 29(6), pages 1075-1099, August.
    10. Miller, Peter & O'Leary, Ted, 1987. "Accounting and the construction of the governable person," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 235-265, April.
    11. Hill Kulu & Nadja Milewski, 2007. "Family change and migration in the life course," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 17(19), pages 567-590.
    12. Hopwood, Anthony G., 1994. "Accounting and everyday life: An introduction," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 299-301, April.
    13. Lamb, Margaret, 2001. "'Horrid appealing': accounting for taxable profits in mid-nineteenth century England," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 271-298, April.
    14. Gendron, Yves & Spira, Laura F., 2010. "Identity narratives under threat: A study of former members of Arthur Andersen," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 275-300, April.
    15. Bay, Charlotta, 2011. "Framing financial responsibility: An analysis of the limitations of accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 22(6), pages 593-607.
    16. Thierry Viale & Yves Gendron & Roy Suddaby, 2017. "From “mad men” to “math men”," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(2), pages 270-305, February.
    17. Agyemang, Gloria & Lehman, Cheryl R., 2013. "Adding critical accounting voices to migration studies," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 261-272.
    18. Cheryl Lehman & Marcia Annisette & Gloria Agyemang, 2016. "Immigration and neoliberalism: three cases and counter accounts," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 29(1), pages 43-79, January.
    19. Modell, Sven, 2017. "Critical realist accounting research: In search of its emancipatory potential," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 20-35.
    20. Robson, Keith, 1992. "Accounting numbers as "inscription": Action at a distance and the development of accounting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 17(7), pages 685-708, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Dyball, Maria Cadiz & Rooney, Jim, 2019. "Governing and disciplining Filipino migrant workers’ health at Hawaiian sugar plantations," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    2. Sibylle Heilbrunn & Rosa Lisa Iannone, 2020. "From Center to Periphery and Back Again: A Systematic Literature Review of Refugee Entrepreneurship," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-39, September.
    3. Okafor, Oliver Nnamdi & Kalu, Kenneth, 2024. "Integration challenges, immigrant characteristics and career satisfaction for immigrants in the field of accounting and finance: An empirical evidence from Canada," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    4. Nikidehaghani, Mona & Cortese, Corinne & Hui-Truscott, Freda, 2021. "Accounting and pastoral power in Australian disability welfare reform," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    5. Young, Amanda & James, Kieran & Hassan, Abeer, 2022. "The role of regressive sugar tax in the soft drink industry levy (SDIL): A Marxist analysis," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    6. Gilbert, Christine, 2021. "Debt, accounting, and the transformation of individuals into financially responsible neoliberal subjects," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gilbert, Christine, 2021. "Debt, accounting, and the transformation of individuals into financially responsible neoliberal subjects," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    2. Duval, Anne-Marie & Gendron, Yves & Roux-Dufort, Christophe, 2015. "Exhibiting nongovernmental organizations: Reifying the performance discourse through framing power," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 31-53.
    3. Lehman, Cheryl R. & Hammond, Theresa & Agyemang, Gloria, 2018. "Accounting for crime in the US: Race, class and the spectacle of fear," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 63-75.
    4. Nikidehaghani, Mona & Cortese, Corinne & Hui-Truscott, Freda, 2021. "Accounting and pastoral power in Australian disability welfare reform," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    5. Dyball, Maria Cadiz & Rooney, Jim, 2019. "Governing and disciplining Filipino migrant workers’ health at Hawaiian sugar plantations," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    6. Pianezzi, Daniela & Ashraf, Muhammad Junaid, 2022. "Accounting for ignorance: An investigation into corruption, immigration and the state," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    7. Bigoni, Michele & Funnell, Warwick, 2015. "Ancestors of governmentality: Accounting and pastoral power in the 15th century," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 160-176.
    8. Jensen, Mads Langballe & Agyemang, Gloria & Lehman, Cheryl R., 2021. "Accountabilities, invisibilities and silences in a Danish slave trading company on the Gold Coast in the early 18th century," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    9. Bay, Charlotta, 2018. "Makeover accounting: Investigating the meaning-making practices of financial accounts," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 44-54.
    10. Komori, Naoko, 2015. "Beneath the globalization paradox: Towards the sustainability of cultural diversity in accounting research," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 141-156.
    11. Bay, Charlotta, 2011. "Framing financial responsibility: An analysis of the limitations of accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 22(6), pages 593-607.
    12. Guo, Ken H., 2018. "The odyssey of becoming: Professional identity and insecurity in the Canadian accounting field," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 20-45.
    13. Neu, Dean & Everett, Jeff & Rahaman, Abu Shiraz, 2015. "Preventing corruption within government procurement: Constructing the disciplined and ethical subject," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 49-61.
    14. Kornberger, Martin & Pflueger, Dane & Mouritsen, Jan, 2017. "Evaluative infrastructures: Accounting for platform organization," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 79-95.
    15. Michele Bigoni & Enrico Deidda Gagliardo & Warwick Funnel, 2014. "Contabilit? e potere pastorale. Il contributo delle tecniche contabili al rafforzamento del potere della Chiesa nel XV secolo," CONTABILIT? E CULTURA AZIENDALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(1), pages 55-83.
    16. Napier, Christopher J., 2006. "Accounts of change: 30 years of historical accounting research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(4-5), pages 445-507.
    17. Balluchi, Federica & Lazzini, Arianna & Torelli, Riccardo, 2021. "Accounting and music: The role of Giuseppe Verdi in shaping the 19th century culture industry," OSF Preprints 5hz87, Center for Open Science.
    18. Giovanna Centorrino, 2021. "The complex power dynamics within a health care institution during the 15th and 18th centuries. The case of the Great and New Hospital of Palermo," CONTABILIT? E CULTURA AZIENDALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(1), pages 11-59.
    19. Boll, Karen, 2014. "Mapping tax compliance," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 293-303.
    20. Kornberger Martin & Pflueger Dane & Mouritsen Jan, 2017. "Evaluative infrastructures : Accounting for platform organization," Post-Print hal-02276737, HAL.

    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:eee:crpeac:v:46:y:2017:i:c:p:54-74. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/critical-perspectives-on-accounting/ .

    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.