Towards a Nietzchean Genealogical 'Effective' History Approach

Abstract

This essay argues that much accounting history research has failed to present critiques of the present state of accounting’s authoritative concepts and principles, theory, or present day practices. It proposes that accounting history research could benefit by adopting a Nietzchean genealogical “effective” history approach. It outlines the four fundamental strengths of traditional history [investigate only the real with facts; the past is a permanent dimension of the present; history has much to say about the present; and the past, present, and future constitute a seamless continuum]. It identifies Nietzsche’s major concerns with traditional history and contrasts it with his genealogical approach. Two examples of genealogical historiography are presented - Williams’s [1944] exposition of the major shift in British discourse regarding slavery, and Macintosh et al.’s [2000] genealogy of the accounting sign of income from feudal times to the present. The paper critiques some of the early Foucauldian based accounting research as well as some more recent studies from this perspective. It concludes that adopting a genealogical historical approach would enable accounting history research to become effective history.