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In Search of Consensus: The Role of Accounting in the Definition and Reproduction of Dominant Interests

Author

Listed:
  • Anne-Laure Farjaudon

    (DRM - Dauphine Recherches en Management - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Jérémy Morales

    (ESCP-EAP - ESCP-EAP - Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris)

Abstract

This article examines the role of accounting in the manufacture of consensus. Consensus building is often considered a central value for rational decision-making and management. However, more than a democratic confrontation of vantage points, the quest for consensus is a way to discourage conflict and resistance. Our main argument is that accounting and consensus play central roles in processes of definition and the social reproduction of dominant interests. Accounting acts to promote some stakes and strategies (and silence others), as if they were collective and disinterested, which makes them more powerful in debates that deny struggles and asymmetries in positions of power, as well as increases legitimacy by creating an illusion of participation. We illustrate these processes through a case study in which we document the intersection between two fields of knowledge, marketing and accounting, that compete for a monopoly on the definition of value and the ability to speak for the organisation. This analysis draws on Bourdieu's conceptualisation of symbolic domination to highlight how powerful actors secure influence while avoiding contestation. Accounting produces symbolic violence that consolidates asymmetries in positions of power by shaping what is consensual and what is not so that dominant interests are reproduced with the consent of those who have most to lose in the process.

Suggested Citation

  • Anne-Laure Farjaudon & Jérémy Morales, 2013. "In Search of Consensus: The Role of Accounting in the Definition and Reproduction of Dominant Interests," Post-Print halshs-00864761, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00864761
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2012.09.010
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    Cited by:

    1. Gendron, Yves, 2018. "Beyond conventional boundaries: Corporate governance as inspiration for critical accounting research," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 1-11.
    2. Godowski, Christophe & Nègre, Emmanuelle & Verdier, Marie-Anne, 2020. "Toward dialogic accounting? Public accountants’ assistance to works councils − A tool between hope and illusion," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    3. van Helden, Jan & Caperchione, Eugenio & Pattaro, Anna Francesca, 2023. "Use and non-use of accounting information: The case of controversial projects in public and non-profit settings," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    4. 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).
    5. Stenka, Renata, 2022. "Beyond intentionality in accounting regulation: Habitual strategizing by the IASB," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    6. 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.
    7. Stenka, Renata & Jaworska, Sylvia, 2019. "The use of made-up users," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    8. Lehman, Cheryl R., 2019. "Reflecting on now more than ever: Feminism in accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    9. Verdier, Marie-Anne & Boutant Lapeyre, Jennifer, 2023. "The myth of workforce reduction efficiency: The performativity of accounting language," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    10. Morales, Jérémy & Sponem, Samuel, 2017. "You too can have a critical perspective! 25 years of Critical Perspectives on Accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 149-166.
    11. 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.
    12. Marie LEMAIRE, 2018. ""It's a Bible!" Unexpected use, misuse and non-use of CSR standards among "activist" workers," Working Papers of LaRGE Research Center 2018-08, Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie (LaRGE), Université de Strasbourg.
    13. Dixon, Keith & Gaffikin, Michael, 2014. "Accounting practices as social technologies of colonialistic outreach from London, Washington, et Cetera," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(8), pages 683-708.
    14. Baudot, Lisa & Cooper, David J., 2022. "Regulatory mandates and responses to uncomfortable knowledge: The case of country-by-country reporting in the extractive sector," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    15. Papi, Luca & Bigoni, Michele & Deidda Gagliardo, Enrico & Funnell, Warwick, 2019. "Accounting for power and resistance: The University of Ferrara under the Fascist regime in Italy," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 59-76.
    16. Emmanuel Laffort & Nicolas Dufour, 2019. "Fraud phenomenon seen from Luhmann's systemic perspective," Working Papers hal-02010162, HAL.
    17. Ben Khaled, Wafa & Gérard, Benoît & Farjaudon, Anne-Laure, 2022. "Analysis of the political and identity dynamics of a dominant mode of control: The case of business ethics control and its legalization," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    18. Sorola, Matthew, 2022. "Q methodology to conduct a critical study in accounting: A Q study on accountants’ perspectives of social and environmental reporting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    19. Brown, Judy & Tregidga, Helen, 2017. "Re-politicizing social and environmental accounting through Rancière: On the value of dissensus," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 1-21.
    20. Picard, Claire-France, 2016. "The marketization of accountancy," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 79-97.
    21. Gibassier, Delphine, 2017. "From écobilan to LCA: The elite’s institutional work in the creation of an environmental management accounting tool," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 36-58.

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