The Handbook of Accounting in Society invites readers to consider the ways in which accounting affects organizations, institutions, communities, professions, and everyday life. Diverse in its reach, this Handbook campaigns for the need to reconsider our understanding of what accounting is and crucially, what it can become.
Hendrik Vollmer brings together an array of scholars to discuss how accounting practice is shaping the way we do business and government, the way we negotiate our values and valuations, and how we keep track of ourselves and prepare for the future. Contributors highlight how little of accounting is controlled by the accounting profession and raises key persistent issues in accounting practice that concern the professional practitioner as much as the everyday life accountant: accountability and unaccountability, inequality and social justice, and inclusion and exclusion. This dynamic Handbook argues for the redevelopment of accounting education and illustrates the emancipatory potential of alternative forms of accounting, counter accounting, and accounting activism.
Reinvigorating the interdisciplinary approach to accounting and its place in society, this Handbook will be a vital read for scholars, researchers and students specializing in accounting, management, governance and sustainability, business ethics, diversity and inclusion, public administration, organizational behaviour, and organizational culture. It will also be an informative read for accounting professionals, social scientists interested in accounting practice, and political activists engaged in counter accounting.
Editorial Reviews
Review
‘This important book revisits the multifaceted roles that accounting practices have come to play in society. Tracing the diverse range of accountants and accountings from professional practice, accountings for wildlife, gender, race, life, death and grassroots activism to the portrayal of accountants in movies, this book brings together a uniquely rich and diverse collection of essays that reveal accounting’s wide scope of power and influence, exploring what accounting was, is and could be.’ — Andrea Mennicken, The London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
‘Accountants here, accounts there, accounting everywhere! The Handbook of Accounting in Society provides a comprehensive and thought-provoking discussion of how accounts and accounting feature in contemporary society, and how we should pay attention to the roles they play in various settings. An inspiring read directing one to consider matters that would deserve more attention than they usually receive.’ — Matias Laine, Tampere University, Finland
‘Hendrik Vollmer brings together a group of internationally respected researchers who passionately share their expertise and reflections. Collectively, the chapters produce a stunning mosaic testifying to the ubiquity of accounting, while individually each chapter informs and challenges readers to wrestle with accounting’s specific roles and forms of influence. Highly recommended!’ — Robin Roberts, University of Central Florida, US
‘This new Handbook is both an important contribution to the literature and a really useful resource for newcomers to the field. It will be essential reading for students developing a critical perspective and scholars reflecting on the role of accountants and accounting in the wider world.’ — Sheila Killian, University of Limerick, Ireland
About the Author
Edited by Hendrik Vollmer, Reader of Accounting, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, UK and Associate Editor of European Accounting Review
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