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Sociomateriality and the metaphysics of accounting information systems: Revisiting agential realism

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  • Vosselman, Ed
  • De Loo, Ivo

Abstract

This paper is a response to Weber’s (2020) call for further debate on the (potential) contribution of agential realism for the understanding of the content and functioning of accounting information systems (AIS) (Weber, 2020). Contrary to Weber’s conclusions, we suggest that agential realism can make important contributions to AIS studies. In order to realize such contributions we have to acknowledge that agential realism is a metaphysical framework rather than a theory or epistemology. Its potential contributions should be set against the potential contributions stemming from the metaphysical framework that is dominant in AIS research: representationalism. In representationalism, for the purpose of creating a knowledge base for a distant ‘knower’ who acts on the basis of such knowledge, accounting information systems are assumed to represent or provide information about a reality that is ‘out there’. In agential realism, accounting is assumed to be performative in (re)configuring local and temporal boundaries between meaningful positions for humans and non-humans. Rather than putting the human subject (the knower) at the centre of the stage, an agential realist account of accounting foregrounds accounting practices in their interrelation with other practices. It acknowledges that accounting participates in the (re)configuring of a sociomaterial world.

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  • Vosselman, Ed & De Loo, Ivo, 2023. "Sociomateriality and the metaphysics of accounting information systems: Revisiting agential realism," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ijoais:v:49:y:2023:i:c:s1467089523000015
    DOI: 10.1016/j.accinf.2023.100609
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ed Vosselman, 2022. "The performativity of accounting: advancing a Posthumanist understanding," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 19(2), pages 137-161, January.
    2. Hugo Letiche & Ivo de Loo & Alan Lowe & David Yates, 2023. "Meeting the research(er) and the researched halfway," Post-Print hal-03746987, HAL.
    3. Weber, Ron, 2020. "Taking the ontological and materialist turns: Agential realism, representation theory, and accounting information systems," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    4. Roberts, John, 2018. "Managing only with transparency: The strategic functions of ignorance," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 53-60.
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    6. Orlikowski, Wanda J. & Scott, Susan V., 2014. "What happens when evaluation goes online? Exploring apparatuses of valuation in the travel sector," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 57602, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Roberts, John, 2009. "No one is perfect: The limits of transparency and an ethic for 'intelligent' accountability," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 957-970, November.
    8. van Erp, Wil & Roozen, Frans & Vosselman, Ed, 2019. "The performativity of a management accounting and control system: Exploring the dynamic relational consequences of a design," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(4).
    9. Mahama, Habib & Elbashir, Mohamed Z. & Sutton, Steve G. & Arnold, Vicky, 2016. "A further interpretation of the relational agency of information systems: A research note," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 16-25.
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    1. Weber, Ron, 2023. "Sociomateriality, agential realism, and the metaphysics of accounting information systems: A response to Vosselman and De Loo," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).

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