The dimensions of governmentality studies in accounting: complementary and critical potentials

Governmentality involves the operationalisation of political rationalities, and is characterised by a tendency to use calculative technologies such as accounting, which carry the social authority of ‘expertise’. There has been increasing use of the “governmentality” perspective initially enunciated by Foucault (1979) and developed by a range of writers in accounting and other disciplines, particularly in the critical/interpretive branch of accounting research. In this paper, we examine the notion of governmentality, its characteristic features, and the place of accounting within governmentality. We consider how the analytical tools provided by the governmentality perspective may be utilised in the analysis of the issues that emerge from a study of empirical phenomena in accounting and related disciplines. We also consider the limits and limitations of governmentality studies, including problems relating to their concept of the state; resistance; notions of freedom and domination; and their failure to conceptualise alternatives to present forms of power.