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The “Sustainable Development” of a Critical Accounting Project

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Pioneers of Critical Accounting

Abstract

The critical accounting project aims to broaden out and open up accounting and those implicated therein. Accounting and accountability systems are radicalized so as to facilitate a progressive social agenda dedicated to acting in the public interest. Radicalizing accounting requires courageous and rigorous questioning of the generally accepted premises of traditional accounting. Can the critical accounting project with its decidedly modernist origins adequately respond to the demands of a changing (postmodern) world? The chapter presents a somewhat personal perspective that follows the evolution of my thinking, and at some level, describes some of what is taking place within the critical accounting project. Three theorizing perspectives are considered: critical social science, communicative action, and agonistics. The application of each is a response to the apparent limitations of the previous one.

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Dillard, J. (2016). The “Sustainable Development” of a Critical Accounting Project. In: Haslam, J., Sikka, P. (eds) Pioneers of Critical Accounting. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54212-0_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54212-0_6

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-54211-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-54212-0

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