Discussion of “accounting and the construction of the governable person”

Miller & O 'Leary ( 1 9 8 7 ) ask a mos t i m p o r t a n t ques t ion . Namely, h o w can w e u n d e r s t a n d cos t a c c o u n t i n g as a d i scurs ive p rac t i ce in the cont ex t o f t he b r o a d e r h u m a n sc iences? They ask us to ignore any pa r t i cu l a r cos t a c c o u n t i n g p roblem, o r any pa r t i cu l a r w a y o f t heo r i z ing abou t cos t account ing , o r any pa r t i cu l a r f r a m e w o r k for o rgan iz ing the var ious "paradigms" used to s tudy cos t account ing . Instead, t hey ask us to l ook at the la rger f ie ld o f d i scourse : the f ie ld o f legitim i z e d ways o f th ink ing that a l lows us to see ou r p r o b l e m s as real, ou r bel iefs as t rue, ou r judgm e n t s as sound, and o u r f r ameworks as meaningful. In short , t hey ask us to w o n d e r h o w a se r ious and signif icant p r ac t i ce o f cos t a c c o u n t i n g is poss ib le , and to look at w h a t its cond i t i ons o f poss ib i l i ty are. In p r e s e n t i n g a h i s to ry of cos t a c c o u n t i n g as one e l e m e n t in a c o m p l e x o f social s c i ence discourses , t hey have d r a w n insp i ra t ion f rom Miche l Foucaul t , an au thor w h o may be unfamiliar to many readers . He was a F rench ph i lo sophe r -h i s to r i an w h o s e s tar t l ing and shifting set o f desc r ip t ive insights c anno t be summar i zed in a s imple list o f p ropos i t ions . Yet for the i r paper , this is no t a h indrance , as the i r analysis s tands in its o w n right. They use the refreshing t e c h n i q u e o f e m p l o y i n g s o m e of his ideas to ac tua l ly do a p i e c e o f scho la r ly work. W e are spa red f rom "a r e v i e w of Foucaul t ' s insights in to k n o w l e d g e and p o w e r in the m o d e r n wor ld ." They have no t to ld us h o w s o m e o n e could , someday , d o a s tudy us ing that i m p o r t a n t scholar 's ideas. Instead, t hey have gone ahead and d o n e it. In so doing, t hey have b e g u n a s tudy w h o s e s c o p e is i nc r ed ib ly broad . The i r p a p e r has on ly b e e n able to ske tch a p o r t i o n o f the set o f h u m a n sc i ence d i scourses w h i c h have p r o v i d e d the f ield o f poss ib i l i t ies for cos t account ing : to fully d e v e l o p the i r top ic w o u l d r e qu i r e at least a book. And so they c o u l d always be c r i t i c i zed for e r ro r s of omiss ion, for gloss ing too l ight ly ove r i m p o r t a n t po in t s o r for fail ing to fully c a p tu r e the beau ty and p r o m i s e o f Foucau l t ' s insights. But no t by this discussant . Instead, I offer the w a r m e s t congra tu la t ions for a bold , p r o v o c a t i v e s tudy, and e n c o u r a g e m e n t for t h e m and o the r s to c o n t i n u e this t ype o f h i s tor ica l analysis. Mil ler & O'Leary have a rgued that cos t accoun t ing is no t s imply a p roc e s s of co l l ec t ing and p roc e s s ing data on p r o d u c t i v e p e r f o r m a n c e that can be exp la ined b y funct ional i s t o r classin te res t ba sed theo r i e s of o rgan iza t ion cont ro l . Cost a c c oun t i ng is no t an isolated, independen t l y e l abora t ing act iv i ty that s imply mee t s the needs o f s o m e manager ia l group. It is no t an innocen t , neu t ra l ac t iv i ty that can be used for g o o d as easi ly as for ill, d e p e n d i n g on w h e t h e r its pract i t ioners ' i n ten t ions de r ive f rom theo ry X o r t h e o r y Y. Rather, cos t a c c oun t i ng is a p r a c t i c e o f ta lking and do ing that is i nex t r i cab ly l oca t ed in a ma t r ix o f o t h e r prac t ices . In this cons te l l a t ion of d i scurs ive prac t ices , forms o f know ing are one and the same wi th forms o f repress ion . Accoun t ing is ne i t he r i n n o c e n t no r i n d e p e n d e n t of the o r d e r i n g and c on t ro l o f all c i t izens in the mode rn wor ld . In the name o f l iber ty, e n l i g h t e n m e n t and f r eedom, the m o d e r n w o r l d engages in a universal p r o c e s s o f observa t ion , e x a m i n a t i o n and d o c u m e n t a t i o n that t ouches the b o d y and p syche o f each of us. The h i s tory o f cos t account ing is this f ield o f d i scourses in w h i c h the pract ice o f cos t a c c oun t i ng is poss ible .