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Radicalizing accounting history: the potential of oral history

Theresa Hammond (Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts, USA)
Prem Sikka (University of Essex, Colchester, UK)

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal

ISSN: 0951-3574

Article publication date: 1 August 1996

4074

Abstract

Much of the historical research in accounting continues to mimic idealized scientific methods in which written and official evidence is privileged. This research advances the narrative that the institutions of accountancy and major personalities are engaged in a heroic process of “progress”. Such a view ignores the impact of accounting on the lives of ordinary people. Thus, there is little understanding of the lived experiences of ordinary people who are affected by accounting and shape its development. This is in contrast to the currently dominant approaches to writing accounting history. Calls for the use of oral histories so that those marginalized and neglected by conventional history can be given a voice and problematize the narratives of “progress” dominating accounting research.

Keywords

Citation

Hammond, T. and Sikka, P. (1996), "Radicalizing accounting history: the potential of oral history", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 79-97. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513579610122018

Publisher

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MCB UP Ltd

Copyright © 1996, MCB UP Limited

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