IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/aaajpp/v24y2011i3p288-314.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Trying to operationalise typologies of the spectacle

Author

Listed:
  • Shahzad Uddin
  • Bernard Gumb
  • Stephen Kasumba

Abstract

Purpose - This paper aims to focus on building an interpretive framework for understanding accounting practices and changes, drawing on the situationist concept of the “spectacle”. Design/methodology/approach - The paper reviews the existing accounting and management literature in light of the concept of the spectacle. The paper presents empirical illustrations of participatory budgeting as a form of the spectacle and the role of donor agencies in local government reforms in Uganda, based on interviews and observations. Findings - It is argued that the transformational – rather than just metaphoric – dimension of the spectacle has the potential to provide a better understanding of accounting practices and their transformations in the context of ever‐changing capitalism, and to further contribute to the critical accounting literature. Drawing on Debord's work, the paper also extends one's understanding of why donor agencies export ideas, including accounting practices and technologies. Practical implications - The paper further enriches the possibility of critical consciousness and praxis in transforming and shaping the spectacle. By understanding the construction of the spectacle and its transformations, as Bojeet al.argued, avenues for resistance are opened up. Originality/review - The paper provides a perspective for the understanding of accounting changes, and it should open up avenues for further research regarding various forms of the spectacle that involve accounting techniques and practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Shahzad Uddin & Bernard Gumb & Stephen Kasumba, 2011. "Trying to operationalise typologies of the spectacle," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(3), pages 288-314, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:aaajpp:v:24:y:2011:i:3:p:288-314
    DOI: 10.1108/09513571111129950
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/09513571111129950/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/10.1108/09513571111129950/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/10.1108/09513571111129950?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. Trevor Hopper & Mathew Tsamenyi & Shahzad Uddin & Danture Wickramasinghe, 2009. "Management accounting in less developed countries: what is known and needs knowing," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(3), pages 469-514, March.
    2. Christoph Kuhner, 2001. "Financial Rating Agencies: Are They Credible? – Insights Into The Reporting Incentives Of Rating Agencies In Times Of Enhanced Systemic Risk," Schmalenbach Business Review (sbr), LMU Munich School of Management, vol. 53(1), pages 2-26, January.
    3. Shields, J. F. & Shields, M. D., 1998. "Antecedents of participative budgeting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 49-76, January.
    4. Macintosh, Norman B. & Shearer, Teri & Thornton, Daniel B. & Welker, Michael, 2000. "Accounting as simulacrum and hyperreality: perspectives on income and capital," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 13-50, January.
    5. Graham, Cameron, 2008. "Fearful asymmetry: The consumption of accounting signs in the Algoma Steel pension bailout," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(7-8), pages 756-782.
    6. Knights, David & Collinson, David, 1987. "Disciplining the shopfloor: A comparison of the disciplinary effects of managerial psychology and financial accounting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 457-477, August.
    7. repec:aer:wpaper:140 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Miller, Peter & O'Leary, Ted, 1993. "Accounting expertise and the politics of the product: Economic citizenship and modes of corporate governance," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 18(2-3), pages 187-206, April.
    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. Kuruppu, Chamara & Adhikari, Pawan & Gunarathna, Vijitha & Ambalangodage, Dayananda & Perera, Priyanga & Karunarathna, Chaminda, 2016. "Participatory budgeting in a Sri Lankan urban council: A practice of power and domination," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1-17.
    2. Adhikari, Pawan & Kuruppu, Chamara & Matilal, Sumohon, 2013. "Dissemination and institutionalization of public sector accounting reforms in less developed countries: A comparative study of the Nepalese and Sri Lankan central governments," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 213-230.
    3. Staci A. Kenno & Michelle C. Lau & Barbara J. Sainty, 2018. "In Search of a Theory of Budgeting: A Literature Review," Accounting Perspectives, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), pages 507-553, December.
    4. Pupovac, Sanja & Moerman, Lee, 2022. "Bringing Shell and Friends of the Earth on stage: A one-act spectacle of oil spills in the Niger Delta," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    5. Eve Chiapello & C. Richard Baker, 2011. "The introduction of French theory into English language accounting research," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(2), pages 140-160, February.
    6. Rasel Mpuya Madaha, 2020. "Can Local African Communities be Empowered through Participatory Budgeting?," International Journal of Social and Administrative Sciences, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 5(2), pages 74-93, June.
    7. Uddin, Shahzad & Mori, Yuji & Shahadat, Khandakar, 2020. "Private management and governance styles in a Japanese public hospital: A story of west meets east," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 245(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. Himick, Darlene, 2016. "Actuarialism as biopolitical and disciplinary technique," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 22-44.
    2. Ramírez-Henao, Driver Ferney & Sánchez-Guevara, Alejandro, 2024. "The roles of accounting in the racial organization of work," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    3. Malsch, Bertrand & Gendron, Yves, 2009. "Mythical representations of trust in auditors and the preservation of social order in the financial community," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 735-750.
    4. Kraus, Kalle & Kennergren, Cecilia & von Unge, Amelie, 2017. "The interplay between ideological control and formal management control systems – A case study of a non-governmental organisation," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 42-59.
    5. Vollmer, Hendrik, 2016. "Financial numbers as signs and signals: Looking back and moving forward," economic sociology. perspectives and conversations, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, vol. 17(2), pages 32-38.
    6. Luft, Joan & Shields, Michael D., 2003. "Mapping management accounting: graphics and guidelines for theory-consistent empirical research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(2-3), pages 169-249.
    7. 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.
    8. Cooper, Christine, 2015. "Entrepreneurs of the self: The development of management control since 1976," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 14-24.
    9. Saravanamuthu, Kala & Tinker, Tony, 2003. "Politics of managing: the dialectic of control," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 37-64, January.
    10. Vollmer, Hendrik, 2019. "Accounting for tacit coordination: The passing of accounts and the broader case for accounting theory," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 15-34.
    11. Beata Zyznarska-Dworczak, 2018. "The Development Perspectives of Sustainable Management Accounting in Central and Eastern European Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-21, May.
    12. Carmona, Salvador & Ezzamel, Mahmoud & Gutierrez, Fernando, 2002. "The relationship between accounting and spatial practices in the factory," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 239-274, April.
    13. McKernan, John Francis, 2011. "Deconstruction and the responsibilities of the accounting academic," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 22(7), pages 698-713.
    14. Lambert Jerman & Pierre Labardin, 2016. "Du pouvoir visuel des nombres comptables: les apports de la phénoménologie d'Husserl," Post-Print hal-01902585, HAL.
    15. Rambaud, Alexandre & Richard, Jacques, 2015. "The “Triple Depreciation Line” instead of the “Triple Bottom Line”: Towards a genuine integrated reporting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 92-116.
    16. Charpentier, Claes, 1998. "Budgetary Participation in a Public Service Organization," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Business Administration 3, Stockholm School of Economics.
    17. Prabhu Sivabalan & Peter Booth & Teemu Malmi & David A. Brown, 2009. "An exploratory study of operational reasons to budget," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 49(4), pages 849-871, December.
    18. Samuel, Sajay & Manassian, Armond, 2011. "The rise and coming fall of international accounting research," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 22(6), pages 608-627.
    19. Modell, Sven & Yang, ChunLei, 2018. "Financialisation as a strategic action field: An historically informed field study of governance reforms in Chinese state-owned enterprises," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 41-59.
    20. Olivier Boiral & Marie‐Christine Brotherton & Léo Rivaud & David Talbot, 2022. "Comparing the uncomparable? An investigation of car manufacturers' climate performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2213-2229, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Accounting; Uganda;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:24:y:2011:i:3:p:288-314. 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: 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.