Critical Account Research Articles

Why Personhood Is Not So Social: Reflections on Oyowe’s Menkiti

Abstract In Menkiti’s Moral Man, Oritsegbubemi Oyowe aims to provide a sympathetic interpretation of the works of Ifeanyi Menkiti as they address personhood, community, and other facets of morality. This article maintains that while Oyowe’s Menkiti is more plausible than the way Menkiti has often been read, there are still respects in which the account of personhood advanced invites criticism. One criticism is that it is implausible to think that personhood is constituted by others recognizing one as a person. Instead, insofar as community constitutes one’s personhood, it is insofar as one has lived up to norms of interpersonal morality. A second criticism is that there are intuitively some dimensions of personhood that are not constituted by the community or other-regard at all. In particular, this article argues that there are moral duties to oneself that exist and that are not well captured by any sensible understanding of the view that community alone constitutes personhood, such that part of what it is to be a full person is to treat oneself in certain ways. In sum, personhood, while admittedly social, is not as social as Oyowe’s Menkiti believes.

Strengthening fraud prevention in small businesses: An analysis of effective accounting and auditing practices

Fraud poses a substantial threat to small businesses, with potentially devastating consequences due to their often-limited resources and lack of sophisticated fraud prevention measures. In the absence of adequate defenses, small businesses are particularly vulnerable to financial losses, operational disruption, and reputational harm. This article examines critical accounting and auditing practices that can strengthen fraud prevention efforts, focusing on practical strategies tailored to small business environments. Research indicates that nearly 5% of annual revenue is lost to fraud worldwide, with small businesses experiencing outsized impacts. By implementing robust internal controls, conducting regular audits, and embracing technology-driven solutions, these enterprises can significantly reduce fraud risks. The paper discusses specific types of fraud, such as asset misappropriation, financial statement fraud, and corruption, all of which are prevalent in small businesses and can often go undetected without structured preventative measures. Leveraging real-time monitoring, data analytics, and employee training, businesses can establish a proactive stance against fraud while fostering a culture of transparency and ethical behavior. Drawing on insights from major fraud studies and frameworks, including the COSO model and ACFE reports, this analysis provides small business owners and stakeholders with actionable recommendations for building resilient fraud prevention systems. This study underscores that with targeted resources and awareness, small businesses can achieve a higher degree of financial integrity and stability, positioning themselves for sustainable growth and trust within their communities.

An interpretative qualitative case study of a Compassionate Cities initiative in the United Kingdom: Lessons for implementation in other settings.

Compassionate Cities are a novel approach to health-promotive palliative care that uses a population-based approach to promote health and encourage its citizens to act with confidence to help others during death, dying, or bereavement. This study aimed to provide a critical account of how the leaders of a Compassionate City adopted the initiative and how they experienced its development and implementation. An interpretative qualitative case study was conducted in a newly established Compassionate City in the UK. Data was collected using in-depth interviews, documentary analysis, and non-participatory observations. Reflective thematic analysis was used to analyze the contents of the multiple resources. Five observations, 4 document analyses, and 11 interviews with members of the Compassionate City steering committee were conducted. We identified 4 themes: right model, right people, in the right place, at the right time; building a network of organizations and individuals; building sustainable community capacity to deal with grief, loss, and bereavement; and, embedding and sustaining the Compassionate City initiative. The study also found that cross-cutting factors such as leadership, visibility of work, evaluation, communication, and funding influenced and shaped the key themes when developing and implementing the Compassionate City. This study provides broad insight into the key actions taken by the leaders of a Compassionate City aiming to improve the end-of-life experience of its citizens. We highlight the many challenges and complexities faced by the leaders when translating the concepts of Compassionate Cities into practice and identify key elements to consider for the successful implementation of future initiatives.

Choice, calculation, and consumer empowerment

Consumer choices are always relationally produced, an outcome of consumers’ inevitable reliance on such entities as choice architectures, calculation tools, discourses, and more. This means that giving consumers choice does not make them free from external influences. But if consumer choice cannot fully liberate consumers, must we abandon choice promotion as a path to consumer empowerment, a widely embraced approach in neoliberal societies? While this seems to be the conclusion of many critics of empowerment-through-choice, this conceptual article argues that choice promotion can still play an important role in empowering consumers. We make our case by developing a Callonian perspective on choice and consumer empowerment, which calls attention to the role of “calculative devices” in configuring consumers as more or less powerful choosers. We identify four qualities of calculative devices that enhance the “calculative power” of consumers: (1) calculative enrichment, (2) calculative stabilization, (3) calculative flexibilization, and (4) calculative contestation. The Callonian perspective opens new ways to study consumer empowerment and offers a critical account of consumer autonomy.

What’s in a Name? Children’s Rights and Legal Voice within Administrative and Juridical Procedures of Recognition of Same-Sex Filiation

This performative text, consisting of writing and visualizations, explores children’s voices within court proceedings connected to the legal recognition of intended mothers within lesbian-parented families. The research used long-term ethnographic observations and biographical interviews focused on French and Italian families from the “activist generation” who devoted their efforts to obtaining reproductive and family rights. The article provides a critical account of the implementation of Article 12.2 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (UNCRC)—that is the right to be listened to in judicial and administrative proceedings affecting children. Our main argument is that, in contrast to the intention of Article 12.2 of the UNCRC, children are given a more symbolic than substantial voice in court proceedings and administrative procedures. The text situates children’s voices both in the wider context and in everyday life. Drawing on ethnographic research data, we show where and to what extent children’s voices emerge or, on the contrary, are silenced. Keywords: same-sex parenting; filiation; children’s rights; ethnography; creative writing; visual methods; performative text; Euro-American kinship; Italy; France.

The Big Four: Multiple Functions and Power in Global Value Chains

ABSTRACTMany believe that the Big Four are simply global accounting firms with a large menu of additional services. Using both quantitative and qualitative data, we show that their role in the world political economy extends much beyond such description. We argue that the Big Four play a coordinating role in the organization and expansion of global value chain (GVC) in multiple territories, value‐chain segments and at multiple scales. Building on the literature of the multidimensionality of power in the GVC, we investigate the multiple dimensions through which the power of the Big Four is exercised. Uncovering the power manifestations of the Big Four as global actors, the article contributes both empirically and conceptually to the dialogue among the literatures on the international political economy, critical accounting and GVC.

Treatment 'cultures', sexually transmitted infections and the rise of antimicrobial resistance.

In this article, we examine the current management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), in the context of rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR), through the lens of 'treatment cultures'. Prevailing treatment cultures-including the prominence of syndromic care for STIs-foster certain possibilities and foreclose others, with important consequences for countering AMR. Drawing on qualitative interviews with STI professionals, experts and industry representatives, we unpack these stakeholders' accounts of STI treatment cultures, drawing out the importance of socio-historical (i.e. taboo and stigma), political-economic (i.e. perceptions of significance, profit-making and prioritisation) and subjective (i.e. patient contexts and reflexivity) dimensions therein. In developing this critical account of how treatment cultures are formed, reproduced and indeed resisted, we reveal how such discourses and practices render the reining in of AMR and shifting antibiotic use difficult, and yet, how productive engagement remains key to any proposed solutions. As such, the article contributes to our understanding of AMR as a highly diversified field, through our exploration of the bio-social dimensions of resistance as they relate to the case of STIs.

‘What do you love about sport?’ Exploring boys’ and girls’ embodied experiences of sport

ABSTRACT There is a wealth of research documenting boys’ and girls’ gendered identities in and through sport, much of which provides a critical account of masculinist discourses, particularly related to team sports. Furthermore, while there are many accounts of children’s enjoyment of sport, definitions of fun and enjoyment are wide-ranging, and little has been written on children’s positive orientations towards sport from a corporeal perspective. Using the starting question, ‘what do you love about sport and how does it make you feel?’, this research explores how boys and girls speak about their embodied experiences in and through sport. Twenty-one focus groups took place with boys and girls (n = 147) from seven primary schools in the Republic of Ireland. Before analysis, the data were separated into girls’ and boys’ responses. Reflexive thematic analysis resulted in the construction of patterns around girls’ and boys’ embodied experiences of sport. Boys described their experiences predominantly in terms of physical encounters such as collisions and skill improvement. Girls displayed a wider array of feelings and sensations towards sport, describing experiences as calming, prioritising social interactions, while physical experiences were also important. While many of the results conform with normative gendered discourses, there are some examples of both girls and boys subverting these subjectivities, with girls in middle childhood accessing a wider range of physical identities than previously imagined. Given the importance attached to children’s embodied accounts of their sporting experiences, implications for children’s continued enjoyment and participation in sport are considered, particularly related to the provision of meaningful experiences for girls in sport.

Zirconium 89 and Copper 64 for ImmunoPET: From Antibody Bioconjugation and Radiolabeling to Molecular Imaging.

Immunotherapy has transformed cancer treatment. Nevertheless, given the heterogeneity of clinical efficacy, the multiplicity of treatment options available and the possibility of serious adverse effects, selecting the most effective treatment has become the greatest challenge. Molecular imaging offers an attractive way for this purpose. ImmunoPET provides specific imaging with positron emission tomography (PET) using monoclonal antibodies (mAb) or its fragments as vector. By combining the high targeting specificity of mAb and the sensitivity of PET technique, immunoPET could noninvasively and dynamically reveal tumor antigens expression and provide theranostic tools of several types of malignancies. Because of their slow kinetics, mAbs require radioelements defined by a consistent half-life. Zirconium 89 (89Zr) and Copper 64 (64Cu) are radiometals with half-lives suitable for mAb labeling. Radiolabeling with a radiometal requires the prior use of a bifunctional chelate agent (BFCA) to functionalize mAb for radiometal chelation, in a second step. There are a number of BFCA available and much research is focused on antibody functionalization techniques or on developing the optimum chelating agent depending the selected radiometal. In this manuscript, we present a critical account of radiochemical techniques with radionuclides 89Zr and 64Cu and their applications in preclinical and clinical immuno-PET imaging.

From brussels effect to gravity assists: Understanding the evolution of the GDPR-inspired personal information protection law in China

This paper explores the evolution of China's Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) and situates it within the context of global data protection development. It draws inspiration from the theory of ‘Brussels Effect’ and provides a critical account of its application in non-Western jurisdictions, taking China as a prime example. Our objective is not to provide a comparative commentary on China's legal development but to illuminate the intricate dynamics between the Chinese law and the EU's GDPR. We argue that the trajectory of China's Personal Information Protection Law calls into question the applicability of the Brussels Effect: while the GDPR's imprint on the PIPL is evident, a deeper analysis unveils China's nuanced, non-linear adoption that diverges from many assumptions of the Brussels Effect and similar theories. The evolution of the GDPR-inspired PIPL is not as a straightforward outcome of the Brussels Effect but as a nuanced, intricate interplay of external influence and domestic dynamics. We introduce a complementary theory of ‘gravity assist’, which portrays China's strategic instrumentalisation of the GDPR as a template to shape its unique data protection landscape. Our theoretical framework highlights how China navigates through a patchwork of internal considerations, international standards, and strategic choices, ultimately sculpting a data protection regime that has a similar appearance to the GDPR but aligns with its distinct political, cultural and legal landscape. With a detailed historical and policy analysis of the PIPL, coupled with reasonable speculations on its future avenues, our analysis presents a pragmatic, culturally congruent approach to legal development in China. It signals a trajectory that, while potentially converging at a principled level, is likely to diverge significantly in practice, driven by China's broader socio-political and economic agendas rather than the foundational premises of EU data protection law and its global aspirations. It thus indicates the inherent limitations of applying Brussels Effect and other theoretical frameworks to non-Western jurisdictions, highlighting the imperative for integrating complementary theories to more accurately navigate complex legal landscapes.

Authoritarian liquid transgressions: the case of P&O Ferries

AbstractOn 17 March 2022, P&O Ferries summarily dismissed 786 seafarers without notice or consultation in a clear and openly admitted transgression of legality, but two months later its parent company's chief executive officer claimed that ‘nobody was hurt’. Drawing on the work of Zygmunt Bauman and Alain Supiot, this article offers a critical account of the scandal based on three main arguments. First, it develops the new concept of an ‘authoritarian liquid transgression’ (ALT), defined as a transgression of a democratic legal norm that seeks to leave no trace or excess (that which resists immediate liquefaction), thus aiming at complete erasure. Second, it argues that the P&O event is a paradigmatic example of an attempted ALT by dissecting three main steps in the business strategy (liquefaction, effacement, and simulation) but also traces competing privatized and politicized narratives of its excess. Third, the article suggests that the event will be viewed as a liminal event for the United Kingdom's authoritarian neoliberalism since it acted as a window that offered a brief glimpse of the brutal nature of authoritarian neoliberalism at work but also of an alternative solid construction of labour law and its remedial framework.

Speaking truth to funders: Alternative accountabilities in the voluntary and community sector during the COVID‐19 pandemic

AbstractThis paper studies grassroots organizations that provide various forms of support to vulnerable local communities in the United Kingdom in a context of increasing austerity, public sector drawbacks, a lack of funding and extensive monitoring, and evaluative requirements. We focus on the COVID‐19 pandemic, which challenged traditional funding relationships. We analyze lived experiences of trust, emotion, and suffering to understand the politics of accountability across the diverse economy. We draw on Gibson‐Graham's post‐capitalist framework, which insists on the politics of language, the subject, and collective action. In the setting we study, the language of crisis reshaped funding, vulnerable subjectivities emerged to support vulnerable communities, and fragmenting accountabilities were met with attempts to promote collective action and solidarity. We, therefore, contribute to literature in critical accounting and literature focused on the voluntary and community sector by studying a landscape of diverse accountability practices to explore the possibilities that they offer in terms of accounting for non‐capitalist organizing.

When Your Pronominal Marking Matters during a Pandemic: Shawi Pronominals and COVID-19 Interventions

In this communication, I focus on Shawi forms of address used in Peruvian State posters during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic took a heavy toll on the Peruvian Indigenous population. A recent study showed that Indigenous people had 3.18 times the risk of infection and 0.4 times the mortality risk of the general population in Peru. The Shawi have not been included among the most heavily affected. A preliminary descriptive and critical account of Peruvian State posters whereby languages such as Shawi and other Peruvian Indigenous languages (Awajun, Ashaninka, different varieties of Quechua, Shipibo, etc.) have been used to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is provided. Shawi seems to be the only language of the sample where information has been framed using first-person inclusive forms. This appears to have led to enhanced communal engagement in the suggested health-related practices. Additionally, opinions on the issue from local stakeholders are briefly discussed. While the results are derived solely from preliminary observations, my findings could serve as a basis for enhancing health communication strategies in other Indigenous contexts, utilizing linguistically informed intercultural approaches.

Global Climate Change Politics: Critical Appraisal of India’s Changing Role

Global warming and consequent climate change have emerged as serious issues and have started featuring on almost all multilateral forums with statements warning the global leadership to get increasingly proactive about addressing the issues. In world politics, countries are viewing climate change as an issue to gain influence in international politics. India is no exception to this rule and has been shaping its role as a rule-shaper and policy advocate and is an active participant in climate change negotiations. This article traces India’s role since the talks on climate change began as part of wider environmental concerns. It also enumerates the way global leadership viewed and addressed this pressing issue from time to time. The article provides a brief but critical account of India’s policy interventions at global and national levels to appraise India’s growing role and relevance.

The “forever” per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS): A critical accounting of global research on a major threat under changing regulations

The European Commission's current efforts to launch the largest proposal to restrict per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in history reflect the dire global plight of PFAS accumulation in the environment and their health impacts. While there are existing studies on PFAS research, there is a lack of comprehensive analysis that both covers the entire research period and provides deep insights into global research patterns, incentives, and barriers based on various parameters. We have been able to demonstrate the increasing interest in PFAS research, although citation numbers are declining prematurely. Policy regulations based on proving and establishing the toxicity of PFASs have stimulated research in developed countries and vice versa, with increasing emphasis on ecological aspects. China, in particular, is investing increasingly in PFAS research, but without defining or implementing regulations - with devastating effects. The separation of industrial and environmental research interests is clear, with little involvement of developing countries, even though their exposure to PFAS is devastating. It, therefore, requires increased globally networked and multidisciplinary approaches to address PFAS contamination challenges.

Accounting paradigms and neoliberalism. A Gramscian interpretative analysis of the evolution of the asset-liability view and revenue-expense view in Italy and the United States (1891–1991)

This article proposes a historical analysis of the evolution of both the asset-liability and the revenue-expense views as accounting paradigms functional to the expression of the hegemonic relations exercised by the ruling classes in their social contexts. Focusing on the United States and Italy, the study outlines the common trajectories of the development of the revenue-expense accounting system after the initial classical asset-liability phase. It then highlights the differences in terms of the subsequent changes that drove the United States to new asset-liability positions of a financial connotation, whilst, in Italy, they were more oriented towards the consolidation of the revenue-expense view. The research methodology is based on critical accounting history lenses, using Gramsci’s concepts of Integral State, ideology, and intellectuals to analyse and understand the above developments. The study concludes that the asset-liability paradigm, which has been spreading in the United States since the 1960s, has characteristics that are useful for the neoliberal ideology and the implementation of its programme, contributing to the cultural hegemony of financial capitalism. In Italy, on the other hand, there has been the persistence of the revenue-expense paradigm, which has characteristics less compatible with the aforementioned ideology. Central to this dynamic has been the mediation of intellectuals in the accounting bodies of Civil Society and in the apparatuses of Political Society. These paradigms should, therefore, be the subject of renewed interest in the debate of the international scientific community, as well as in professional practice, in order to support the strengthening of a role of accounting intellectuals functional to the interests of the subordinate classes, for a truly emancipatory function of accounting with respect to the current dominant hegemony.

Kant’s Principia Diiudicationis and Executionis

Abstract A core feature of Kant’s Critical account of moral motivation is that pure reason can be practical by itself. I argue that Kant developed this view in the 1770s concerning the principium diiudicationis and principium executionis. These principles indicate the normative and performative aspects of moral motivation. I demonstrate that cognition of the normative principle effects the moral incentive. So, the hallmark of Kant’s Critical account of motivation was contained in his pre-Critical view. This interpretation resolves a controversy about Kant’s apparent eudaimonism in the first Critique and shows that he developed his account of moral autonomy in the 1770s.

Unpacking LGBT+ hate crimes discourse in Italy: between symbolic recognition and claims for sexual citizenship

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to provide a critical account of the hate crime (HC) paradigm by exploring its historical legal definition and the limitations in addressing the multiple and structural discriminations faced by minority groups. Specifically, the article focuses on the case of Italy, where in recent years a fierce debate over a proposed law on HC against LGBT+ and disabled people ended in its rejection due to neoconservative and Catholic opposition.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on critical socio-criminological literature on HC, the paper analyses the Italian debates and socio-legal context over the past two decades regarding discrimination against LGBT+ groups and its (lack of) criminalization. It also provides a secondary analysis of recent data on violence and discrimination against LGBT+ people, collected by the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA).FindingsThe analysis of the debate and the data collected shows that the criminal definition of HC is insufficient to capture the wider range of social and cultural violence and discrimination against LGBT+ people. Indeed, data analysis shows the effect of the low level of recognition of rights on the propensity of people to denounce and of social practitioners to recognize, discrimination and violence against LGBT+ people. It is therefore argued that the discussion on HC should move beyond the criminalization of individual violence to be entrenched in a broader reflection over the lack of recognition of sexual citizenship rights which perpetuates the vulnerability of LGBT+ people.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the international socio-criminological debate on HC. It argues for a comprehensive framework that recognizes the structural nature of discrimination and violence against vulnerable groups by framing discrimination and violence against LGBT+ people as a citizenship right rather than a criminal justice issue.

Algorithmic Transparency, Manipulation, and Two Concepts of Liberty

As more decisions are made by automated algorithmic systems, the transparency of these systems has come under scrutiny. While such transparency is typically seen as beneficial, there is a also a critical, Foucauldian account of it. From this perspective, worries have recently been articulated that algorithmic transparency can be used for manipulation, as part of a disciplinary power structure. Klenk (Philosophy & Technology 36, 79, 2023) recently argued that such manipulation should not be understood as exploitation of vulnerable victims, but rather as indifference to whether the information provided enhances decision-making by revealing reasons. This short commentary on Klenk uses Berlin’s (1958) two concepts of liberty to further illuminate the concept of transparency as manipulation, finding alignment between positive liberty and the critical account.

‘A pre-requisite of progress’? Prison modernisation and new prison building in England and Wales

Drawing upon archival research and documentary analysis, this article offers the first in-depth critical account of the prison modernisation narrative in England and Wales. By closely examining the claims behind the UK Government's current prison building policy, the article reveals that prison modernisation is severely undermined by a lack of supporting evidence as well as arguments which indisputably serve to contradict the government's claims. In concluding that modernisation is a seductive and elusive concept which has been deployed to legitimate and support investment in the prison estate, the article offers new and important insights that contribute to critical research agendas around the endurance, survival, and growth of the prison, despite irrefutable and overwhelming evidence of its failure. The analysis presented here should encourage and embolden academics, policy makers, practitioners and politicians in England and Wales, as well as those in jurisdictions where modernisation is also used to legitimate prison expansion, to engage more critically with the claims behind prison modernisation.