If critique is unsustainable, what is Left? A commentary on Bigoni and Mohammed

Abstract

Critical perspectives on accounting are not weapons for assaulting capitalism, they are tools which nourish and sustain it: this is the polemic contention of Bigoni and Mohammed. In this commentary, I examine this provocation, exploring its theoretical grounding in the work of Deleuze and Guattari. I suggest that Bigoni and Mohammed’s argument overstates the durability of capitalism, making it appear irresistible, inevitable, and supernatural. Though it may appear irresistible, I argue that we must see capitalism as a contingent, contestable, historically specific way of life. Human beings can live and have lived in many other ways. Paradoxically, in casting radical doubt upon the seemingly unquestionable value of critique, Bigoni and Mohammed exemplify the value of and need for truly critical thought.