Politicisation of the professions
by Anthony Tinker; Aida Sy
International Journal of Economics and Accounting (IJEA), Vol. 8, No. 1, 2017

Abstract: Accounting can never be 'neutral' or 'independent' vis-à-vis its relationship to major social conflicts and controversies. This is a major implication of the case studies. 'Neutrality' or 'independence' has a fairly precise meaning in this context and is not based on rather vague notions 'evenhandedness', 'refusing to take sides' or a 'policy of non-interference'. Policies of 'inaction', far from being 'neutral' or 'independent', are highly partisan if they involve 'standing-by' and allowing injustices to happen. Many policies of 'non-interference' are, in reality, conspiracies with the status-quo: rather than being neutral and independent, they represent neo-conservative political stances. Professional independence and neutrality is defined here in terms of the capacity to affect social outcomes (usually the distribution of income or wealth). Conceived in these terms, there are very few cases where accounting can be said to be 'neutral' or 'independent'. 'Inaction' or 'non-interference' would not be apolitical or neutral according to this definition if, by refusing to influence a situation; one allows a particular social result to prevail over others.

Online publication date: Sat, 01-Jul-2017

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