Routledge Accounting, Accountants and Accountability: Poststructuralist Positions (Routledge Studies in Accounting)

In the business world, recent years have seen a growing acknowledgement of the value of intangible assets rather than physical assets. This has precipitated a crisis in the accounting industry: the accounting representations relied upon for years can no longer be taken for granted. Here, Norman Macintosh argues that we now need to understand accounting in a different manner. Offering several different ways of looking at accounting and accountants, he draws upon the work of eminent thinkers such as Barthes, Baudrillard, Derrida, Foucault, Lyotard and Bahktin. In doing this, he develops revolutionary insights into the nature of accounting, pioneering the introduction of contemporary poststructuralist ideas into accounting theory and practice. With a wide range of examples and case studies and now available in paperback for the first time, this revolutionary new work will be essential reading for academic and professional accountants along with all those with an interest in the future of accounting. Review 'In his new book Norman Macintosh presents an introduction to "poststructuralist positions on understanding and exploring what accounting is, what accountants do and the relationships between accounting and accountability". For those who have enjoyed and valued his previous books… there are the characteristics familiar to the author of a well-written text, engaging tone and pleasing clarity. In seven approachable chapters Macintosh directs the accounting researcher or general reader around management and financial reporting issues through the lens of various continental social and literary theorists in an enjoyable and approachable style.' - European Accounting Review 'It is always a pleasure to read anything by Norman Macintosh… He has always been one of the great eclectic thinkers in accounting… This short book is a tour de force and, as with all Norman Macintosh’s work, is well written in an easy engaging style that leaves the reader with much to think about.' - Accounting and Business Research 'This book should be of interest to those who wish to gain a fairly painless and clear introduction to poststructuralist theory and its application to accounting.' - The British Accounting Review 'Macintosh's book should be required reading for anyone who needs to think critically about accounting, whether academic or practioner, rather than merely to study and practice it as a set of mechanistic procedures.' - International Journal of Accounting