TY - CHAP

T1 - Pragmatism, Truth and Social Accounting Research

AU - Baker, Max

AU - Schaltegger, Stefan

N1 - Conference code: 7

PY - 2013

Y1 - 2013

N2 - Purpose:To introduce pragmatism as a useful approach to social accounting research and to offer the pragmatic notion of truth as a way of redirecting thinking within this field.Design/methodology/approach:We explore the concept of truth as it has been used within critical social accounting research and contrast this to a pragmatic notion of truth. We then explore the various ways the pragmatic notion of truth extends key areas of social accounting research.Findings:Ideal corporate accountability has been central to the conception of truth within social accounting research. However, this reliance on ideals has underpinned a fairly restrictive conceptual framework that risks losing its ability to inform change. In contrast, pragmatism sees truth as enacted. This means that truth is whatever is useful when dealing with broader social and environmental issues. Adopting this core idea of pragmatism may have many ramifications for social accounting research particularly in relation to stakeholder participation and social reporting.Research limitations/implications:Pragmatism offers a variety of novel ways to open up social accounting research so that it might be more successful in both informing and supporting change.Originality/value:We argue that pragmatism offers a useful and practical conceptual model for stakeholder participation based on the concept of deliberative democracy as well as a novel view of social reporting based on the idea of sensemaking. In this way the ideas of pragmatism both inform and inspire the social accounting project as it pursues its ultimate goal of sustainability.

AB - Purpose:To introduce pragmatism as a useful approach to social accounting research and to offer the pragmatic notion of truth as a way of redirecting thinking within this field.Design/methodology/approach:We explore the concept of truth as it has been used within critical social accounting research and contrast this to a pragmatic notion of truth. We then explore the various ways the pragmatic notion of truth extends key areas of social accounting research.Findings:Ideal corporate accountability has been central to the conception of truth within social accounting research. However, this reliance on ideals has underpinned a fairly restrictive conceptual framework that risks losing its ability to inform change. In contrast, pragmatism sees truth as enacted. This means that truth is whatever is useful when dealing with broader social and environmental issues. Adopting this core idea of pragmatism may have many ramifications for social accounting research particularly in relation to stakeholder participation and social reporting.Research limitations/implications:Pragmatism offers a variety of novel ways to open up social accounting research so that it might be more successful in both informing and supporting change.Originality/value:We argue that pragmatism offers a useful and practical conceptual model for stakeholder participation based on the concept of deliberative democracy as well as a novel view of social reporting based on the idea of sensemaking. In this way the ideas of pragmatism both inform and inspire the social accounting project as it pursues its ultimate goal of sustainability.

KW - Sustainability sciences, Management & Economics

KW - pragmatism

KW - truth

KW - social and evir

KW - social accounting research

KW - engagement

KW - critical theory

UR - http://www.apira2013.org/proceedings/pdfs/apira2013-abstracts.pdf

UR - http://www.apira2013.org/proceedings/list-by-paperID.html

M3 - Published abstract in conference proceedings

SP - 115

BT - APIRA KOBE 2013

A2 - Kokubu, Katsuhiko

A2 - Sawabe, Norio

A2 - Sakaue, Manabu

PB - Kobe University

T2 - 7th Asia Pacific Interdisciplinary Research in Accounting Conference - APIRA 2013

Y2 - 26 July 2013 through 28 July 2013

ER -