From four to zero? The social mechanisms of symbolic domination in the UK accounting field

Stringfellow, Lindsay; McMeeking, Kevin; Maclean, Mairi

doi:10.1016/j.cpa.2014.06.001

Cited by 28 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…'Evasive neutrality' and 'mouthings', both features of Anancism, improve understanding of how regular patterns of tax enforcement practices develop in the field over time without following rules. We see how the influence of Anancy culture produces practices that tend to reproduce the regularities immanent (non-compliance) in the objective conditions of the field (Bourdieu, 1977: 78;Stringfellow, McMeeking, & Maclean, 2015). Anancy's liminal nature provides deeper understandings of resistance while operating within the established order.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Don’t worry, we are not after you! Anancy culture and tax enforcement in Jamaica

Wynter

Oats

2018

Critical Perspectives on Accounting

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Highlights  Tax practice rather than being used to regulate order to bring about accountability, is used to resist the established order, revealing the contested nature of taxation.  Tax practice enables agents to act in accordance with anti-hegemonic norms while paying lip service to hegemonic norms  Culture mediates taxation practice, resulting in 'selective enforcement'.  Anancy culture envelops tax administrators' social being and shapes their knowledge, their relationships and their practices  Tax administrators use anancy culture through anancy tactics of 'evasive neutrality' and 'mouthings' to generate regulated behaviours which are not based on objective patterns such as rules.  Even though colonialism has ended, anancism continues to live through the Jamaican people in the form of resistance.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Don’t worry, we are not after you! Anancy culture and tax enforcement in Jamaica

Wynter

Oats

2018

Critical Perspectives on Accounting

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“…French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu, regarded as one of the most influential figures of the twentieth century (Yang, 2014) develops a framework to account for the dynamics of power in society -how power is transferred and social order maintained within and across generations -which integrate a theory of social structures (field), a theory of power relations (forms of capital), and a theory of the individual (habitus) (Dobbin, 2008;Stringfellow et al, 2015). His theories have been applied by studies seeking to adopt processual or practice based perspectives and account for dynamics of social change (Kitchin and Howe, 2014;Wright, 2009;Grenfell and James, 2004).…”

Section: Bourdieu's System Of Thoughtmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…133) Bourdieu uses the analogy of a game to give an intuitive understanding of his concepts and how they are interrelated and interpenetrating thus: (Bourdieu and Wacquant, 1992, pp. 98-99) Bourdieu's system of thought has been profoundly influential across the social sciences (Stringfellow, 2015;Maclean et al 2012;Emirbayer and Johnson, 2008) and has been used significantly within the critical accounting literature (Kuruppu et al, 2016;Stringfellow, 2015;Cooper and Coulson, 2014;Spence and Carter, 2014;Cooper et al 2011;Golsorkhi et al 2009). Most of the accounting literature which draw on Bourdieu's theories use single concepts (field, capital or habitus) as opposed to deploying his oeuvre.…”

Section: Bourdieu's System Of Thoughtmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accounting for accounting’s role in the neoliberalization processes of social housing in England: A Bourdieusian perspective

Ejiogu

Ambituuni

Ejiogu

2021

Critical Perspectives on Accounting

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This paper seeks to account for how accounting is implicated in the neoliberalization processes of social housing in England. It adopts a processual view which instead of conceptualizing neoliberalism as static and 'end-state', views it as a dynamic process of neoliberalization. We draw upon Bourdieu's notions of field, capital and habitus to frame our study. We focus on reform of the regulation of social housing in England during the period 2006-2016. We show that the process of neoliberaliztion of social housing in England was instigated by the state's intervention to change the structure of the field in terms of norms, power relations and positions of players on the field. These changes brought about simultaneous changes in the habitus of the field as well as the structure and habitus of Housing Associations as sub-fields. We demonstrate how these changes create and reproduce a new system of domination where the tenant is the dominated player. We highlight the role accounting played in these changes in terms of being used as a tool by the regulator to achieve social control and drive change within Housing Associations and by the Housing Associations to evidence conformity with the new norms and adaptation.

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“…We demonstrate how the 'global standardization agenda' (Durocher et al, 2015, p. 83) increasingly imposed a conception of appropriate professional work and professional identity, and, in this way, caused intense intraprofessional conflict. Conflict is not a rare phenomenon in the accounting literature, yet findings in prior studies consistently reveal that contests for professional authority tend to be dominated by large firms (Caramanis, 1999(Caramanis, , 2002(Caramanis, , 2005Durocher et al, 2015;Ramirez, 2009Ramirez, , 2010Ramirez, , 2013Richardson, 1989;Stringfellow et al, 2015). This is particularly true when new accounting regulations have the power to change 'the benchmark of what constitutes the acceptable in auditing' (Fogarty, 1996, p. 262).…”

Section: Dual Roles and Blurred Identitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dual Roles and Blurred Identities: A Framing Contest between Professional Associations in a Local Strategic Action Field

Loscher

Löhlein

Lenz

2021

European Accounting Review

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This paper examines professional associations' local responses to global demands of accounting standardisation. Our longitudinal study from 1998 to 2018 analyses how professional associations of the German audit profession engaged in an intense framing contest over the adoption of external quality controls. Drawing on the concept of strategic action field and the literature on framing, we unpack how the gap between large audit firms and small audit firms increasingly undermined the capacity of the professional associations to fulfil their dual role of governance and representation. We unveil how their failed attempt to maintain the image of an unified profession ultimately led to the creation of a new professional association representing the 'small auditor' professional, which successfully, albeit temporarily, took control over the field of German auditing. Our findings suggest that the passivity of small audit firms in the process of translating global regulatory regimes should not be presumed. Rather, we provide insight into how small audit firms can rebuild their own identity by actively responding to waves of global regulation. Doing so, and contrary to prior research, our case highlights that governance units within strategic action fields are not necessarily aligned with the interests of the most powerful field actors.

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From four to zero? The social mechanisms of symbolic domination in the UK accounting field

Cited by 28 publications

References 63 publications

Don’t worry, we are not after you! Anancy culture and tax enforcement in Jamaica

Don’t worry, we are not after you! Anancy culture and tax enforcement in Jamaica

Accounting for accounting’s role in the neoliberalization processes of social housing in England: A Bourdieusian perspective

Dual Roles and Blurred Identities: A Framing Contest between Professional Associations in a Local Strategic Action Field

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