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A genealogical history of positivist and critical accounting research

Author

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  • C. Richard Baker

    (School of Business - Adelphi University, Pôle de Recherche - Rouen Business School - Rouen Business School)

Abstract

Accounting history has tended to ignore the accounting research enterprise, focusing instead on particular episodes or periods, such as histories of standards-setting or histories of the accounting profession. In effect, methodological and theoretical differences within the accounting research discipline have so profoundly divided the discipline that researchers working in one area are relatively unable or unwilling to understand the key issues in other areas. This paper seeks to shed some light on what is perhaps the greatest divide in accounting research, that is the divide between positive and critical accounting research. It is the argument of this paper that both positive and critical accounting research can trace their origins to certain key figures who were doctoral students at the University of Chicago in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The paper employs Foucault's concept of genealogy to examine the origins of the positivist and critical paradigms in accounting research.

Suggested Citation

  • C. Richard Baker, 2011. "A genealogical history of positivist and critical accounting research," Post-Print hal-00660657, HAL.
  • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00660657
    DOI: 10.1177/1032373210396335
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Inès Dhaouadi & Jacques Igalens, 2016. "Les études critiques en comptabilité des entreprises : l’apport de la perspective foucaldienne [Les études critiques en comptabilité des entreprises : l'apport de la perspective foucaldienne]," Post-Print hal-01856797, HAL.
    2. Becker, Kai Helge, 2016. "An outlook on behavioural OR – Three tasks, three pitfalls, one definition," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 249(3), pages 806-815.
    3. Garry D. Carnegie & Christopher J. Napier, 2012. "Accounting's past, present and future: the unifying power of history," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 25(2), pages 328-369, February.
    4. Yasmine Chahed, 2021. "Words and Numbers: Financialization and Accounting Standard‐Setting in the United Kingdom," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(1), pages 302-337, March.
    5. Mohamed Ali Dakkam, 2018. "qui et à quoi sert la comptabilité ? Un état de l'art et quelques réflexions théoriques pour dépasser le déterminisme des différents paradigmes," Post-Print hal-01907865, HAL.
    6. Andrea Lionzo, 2017. "Italian academia facing an international scenario: Issues and trends," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2017(2), pages 5-22.
    7. Amanda Keddie, 2021. "NGOs working for gender justice with boys and men: Exploring challenges of accountability," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 1461-1474, July.
    8. Gray, Rob & Milne, Markus J., 2015. "It's not what you do, it's the way that you do it? Of method and madness," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 51-66.
    9. Gray, Rob & Perks, Bob, 2018. "Reflections on some of the formative years of the British Accounting Review: Thoughts of ducklings and swans," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(6), pages 580-587.
    10. Andrew Higson & Rasha Kassem, 2016. "Accounting Research: Relevance Lost," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2016(1), pages 59-76.

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