Interpretivism

This chapter traces the evolution of the interpretive turn in accounting research and outlines the key tenets on which this approach was founded and continues to evolve. The origins of interpretivism in accounting research can be thought of as a social movement – an ideologically structured action mobilising in different social settings to challenge a number of dominant ideologies and established practices, routines and rituals. In respect of the politico-ideological dimension, the interpretive project in accounting research initially stemmed from a stream of accounting research that attempted to draw attention to two important aspects of the context of accounting, as it was conceptualised in the 1970s and 1980s: individuals and groups; and society. The Marxist critique of capitalism has served as a theoretical source for politico-ideological interpretations of accounting phenomena. Foucauldian social theory offered an alternative understanding of the historical dynamics of the capitalist system and of modernity, including locating accounting within such historical dynamics.