Abstract
Recent discussions at accounting conferences and workshops suggest that academics are ‘deeply divided’ on the role and purpose of corporate social responsibility (CSR) accounting. This ‘rift’ has been created by moves from mainstream accounting researchers to contribute to a body of evidence that is almost 50 years old without—many believe—being cognizant, or even respectful, of the work that has gone before. The existing work by CSR accounting scholars puts sustainability of the planet at its core, rejecting narrow or instrumental approaches to the fundamental issues; in contrast, more recent ‘capital market-based’ work takes investor-centric, or market-driven approaches to ‘sustainability’ and CSR. While there are calls for greater understanding of, and empathy for, each other’s views and perspectives, this essay identifies some particular pain-points, and calls for new wave researchers—those who recently ‘(re)discovered’ CSR accounting research—to ‘step up (to their plate)’ or simply ‘stay in their own lane (or, out of the game)’.
Highlights
Recent discussions at accounting conferences and workshops suggest that academics are ‘deeply divided’ on the role and purpose of corporate social responsibility (CSR) accounting
As a researcher focused almost exclusively on CSR accounting issues, it might make sense for me to be happy about my area of interest again getting exposure in the mainstream North American accounting journals
It makes me angry—and that is entirely due to the failure of this newest wave of CSR accounting research to recognize its roots, both with respect to the prior mainstream contributions summarized above and, perhaps even more importantly, with respect to the extensive body of CSR accounting research developed outside of those mainstream journals over the past 50 years
Summary
Recent discussions at accounting conferences and workshops suggest that academics are ‘deeply divided’ on the role and purpose of corporate social responsibility (CSR) accounting. In his reflection on this topic, Patten (2013) provides an excellent overview of the evolution of CSR4 accounting research in the mainstream5 North American accounting journals over time.
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