Abstract
In 1784, Immanuel Kant wrote an essay entitled: “Answering the Question: What is Enlightenment?” (“Beantwortung der Frage: Was ist Aufklärung?”). The initial paragraph of Kant’s essay defined a lack of enlightenment as existing when people failed to think for themselves, not because of a lack of intellect, but rather due to a lack of courage. Kant’s essay addressed the reasons for a lack of enlightenment and the preconditions necessary to make it possible for people to enlighten themselves. He argued that all religious and state dogmatism and paternalism would need to be abolished and people given the freedom to use their intellect before enlightenment could be said to exist. Of course, Kant’s essay does not constitute a full description of the “Enlightenment”, which is a much broader term encompassing social, political, cultural and economic transformations that began in Europe in the eighteenth century and which have arguably determined who we are, what we think, and how we act today.
In historical accounting research, references to the Enlightenment have been relatively uncommon. For one example, in a doctoral dissertation published by Juan Baños Sánchez-Matamoros in 2002 at the Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Seville, Spain, there was a central reference to the Illustrados (“Enlightened ones”) in the court of Carlos III in Spain in the eighteenth century. In this dissertation, Baños argued that the Illustrados were following the Enlightenment trend of European philosophy, associated with the works of Locke, Voltaire, Diderot and Kant during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Enlightenment philosophy was highly critical of all forms of traditional authority, particularly those associated with religion and feudalistic or aristocratic society. Enlightenment thinking sought to replace fear and superstition with “truth” and the establishment of a new social order based on reason, natural law and political democracy.
Many historians have regarded the process of Enlightenment as being linear and irreversible; however, more recent authors such as Adorno and Horkheimer have argued that there have been contradictory and even dangerous aspects to the process of Enlightenment. Even more recent scholars such as Habermas, Foucault and Lyotard have expressed scepticism about the grand narratives associated with the Enlightenment, which promise that humanity will be liberated through the pursuit of rational knowledge.
This Call for Papers is intended to encompass a wide range of historical periods and methodologies, ranging from research that might trace the evolution of Enlightenment philosophy as an emancipatory project which arose in the eighteenth century and the resultant effects on political revolutions in France, the United States, Latin America, and other countries, along with the apparent intertwining of Enlightenment thought with the ideas of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of capitalism. Papers might also address the contra movements against Enlightenment philosophy which developed during the twentieth century, resulting in totalitarian dictatorships, two world wars and multiple regional conflicts. Finally, papers might address the more recent treatment of the Enlightenment as an object of scepticism among post-modern critics.
This special issue will welcome papers on the theme, including those that focus on the following potential topics:
Is there a “grand narrative of accounting” which parallels the Enlightenment grand narrative? Is accounting itself an enlightened practice?
Given the clear relationship between Enlightenment thought and the political revolutions of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, have there also been relationships between Enlightenment thought and the rise of capitalism? What role has accounting or accountants played in this process?
Given the widespread use of accounting technologies (including double-entry bookkeeping) in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Great Britain, for instance, what are the interrelationships between political and economic liberalism and accounting?
What role has accounting played in the totalitarian contra movements against the Enlightenment, which occurred during the twentieth century?
What have been the determinants of accounting emergence and change and the implications of accounting on organizational and social functioning and development, especially from the eighteenth to the twentieth century?
How have accountants contributed to, or benefitted from, Enlightenment thought?
Are debates among those who support and those who criticize Enlightenment thought paralleled in some sense by debates among supporters of traditional accounting history and new accounting history?
Papers written in English and in accordance with Accounting History style guidelines should be submitted electronically by 1 February 2017 as per the submission instructions on the journal website: http://ach.sagepub.com/. The special issue is scheduled to be published in early 2019 (with papers uploaded onto OnlineFirst once accepted for publication and copy edited). Potential contributors are invited to contact the guest editor to discuss their ideas or proposed topics.
C. Richard Baker, Adelphi University,
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