Accounting for the public interest: public ineffectuals or public intellectuals?

Christine Cooper

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

48 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present a case for accounting and finance academics to have a more active social role. A range of published works by "public intellectuals" on praxis is presented. What marks these theorists out is that they have developed their theories by active engagement. The economic and political interests of the world in which academics operate are perpetuated by the creation of a breed of intellectuals who encounter significant challenges not only to questioning the status quo but to venturing outside of the academy. Yet, arguably there has never been a more important time for academics to do just that. Academics are armed with the necessary theoretical and research skills to bring coherence to fledging movements and to enable them to overcome the barriers created by the myths perpetuated to hamper social protest. This paper offers practical and theoretical advice to enable and encourage accounting and finance academics to enrich their work by active engagement with the social problems of the time.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)592-608
Number of pages16
JournalAccounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal
Volume18
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2005

Keywords

  • public interest
  • accounting
  • social dynamics
  • accountancy
  • auditing

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Accounting for the public interest: public ineffectuals or public intellectuals?'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this