Is there a future for interpretive accounting research?

I became aware of the discussions that were taking place among younger European accounting researchers when I was refused entry to one of their meetings (in Goteborg) because I was deemed to be too old and part of the establishment. Leaving aside my intellectual concerns about exclusion on the basis of age and my surprise at being seen as the part of the establishment by scholars, many of whom were employed by establishment European universities, it seemed intriguing that young scholars would seek to reinvigorate interpretive accounting research. What was it that caused the worries of the 15 authors (Ahrens et al., this issue) and whose polyphonic debate prompted this special issue of Critical Perspectives on Accounting?