Social representations of intellectuals : the silence of accounting academics

Abstract

Accounting vocabularies and practices have come to permeate everyday life. Accounting now influences not only the corporate sector, but also other sectors. New kinds of managerialisms are facilitated by accounting in fields such as hospitals, schools, universities, charities and trade unions. This has also been accompanied by an increase in the power of accountants and the institutions of accountancy who increasingly function as quasi-legislators. Such developments call for a (re)consideration of the role of accounting academics/intellectuals. The paper argues that in a world where major business and professional interests are organised to advance sectional interests, promote stereotyped images and limit public debates, accounting academics/intellectuals need to give visibility to what in a rush to pass institutional judgements is left out. This can help to broaden debates and mobilise potentialities for greater human participation.