Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reflect on how the social‐theoretical work of Pierre Bourdieu (1931‐2001) could contribute to knowledge production on accountability.Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws on Bourdieu's conceptualisation of social practice in terms of a field/habitus relation, and uses this relation as a framing mechanism to explore the possibilities of accountability in corporate‐stakeholder relations.Findings: The authors argue that Bourdieu's work holds significant implications for academics operating in the political space relating to accountability because it informs a basis for academic intervention.Research limitations/implications: Included in the paper are a critique of the dominant “liberal” position on accountability and a defence of the development of a “post‐liberal” alternative.Practical implications: It is argued that this alternative requires moving away from the dominant procedural approach to practice and recognising the value of informal communication and non‐institutional action as equally valid routes towards accountability.Originality/value: Reflecting on Bourdieu's position reminds us of the explicit link between political and methodological change, and highlights the necessity for these to be inextricably linked.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of the metaphor of capital, and to chart the development of the multiple capitals concept in the International < IR > Framework and consider how it might develop and be used. In doing so, the paper discusses the implications of the contributions to this special issue in the further development of the capitals concept. Design/methodology/approach – The authors draw on documents of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and review the literature on capitals to consider the formation of the metaphor of multiple capitals. This is reflected upon while recognising the varied involvement of the authors with the IIRC capitals conception. The challenges of conceiving a multiple capitals framework are critiqued with reference to empirical and theoretical contributions drawn from recognition of planetary boundaries, gendered capitals, power and intersection of capitals and important practical and conceptual insights raised by papers in th...

This paper documents the dialogic design of an honours level undergraduate degree course, Accounting and Sustainability. The course was designed as part of our individual commitment, supported by the wider department, to introduce elements of dialogic education (Freire, 1970, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, London: Penguin) into the accounting curriculum and make praxis an integral part of the students' learning experience (Thomson and Bebbington, 2004, It doesn't matter what you teach? Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 15(4–5), pp. 609–628). The main component of the course was a large group collaborative project to produce a shadow account (see for example Dey, 2003, Corporate ‘silent’ and ‘shadow’ social accounting, Social and Environmental Accounting Journal, 23(2), pp. 6–10; Gray, 1997 Gray, R. 1997. “The silent practice of social accounting and corporate social reporting in companies”. In Building Corporate Accountability: Emerging Practices in Social and Ethical Accounting, Auditing and Reporting, Edited by: Zadek, S. London: Earthscan. [Google Scholar] , The silent practice of social accounting and corporate social reporting in companies, in: S. Zadek et al. (Eds) Building Corporate Accountability: Emerging Practices in Social and Ethical Accounting, Auditing and Reporting, London: Earthscan) on a major UK company, Sainsbury plc. The paper details the range of learning activities, delivery mechanisms and assessment processes developed to encourage a more dialogic educative experience in this course. Recounting our experiences and describing student outcomes may prove useful to others in designing courses in this specific subject area or more generally in other accounting courses. With this in mind a number of key issues associated with moving towards a dialogic approach are presented in the concluding section.