From critique to praxis: reflections on the role of the critical accounting research community within UK academia

Purpose

The interdisciplinary and critical accounting research community remains positioned at the margins of traditional academic projects, despite its longstanding role in academia. In this context, academics face job redundancies, resistance within accounting education and limited reflexive engagement with the community’s historical development. This study aims to explore how senior accounting academics understand, value and engage with critical accounting research. It also reflects on the community’s capacity to sustain transformative change within contemporary business school settings.

Design/methodology/approach

This study engages with literature that highlights both the expansion of critical accounting research in scope and methodology and the growing emphasis on dialogue with diverse perspectives and draws on 26 semi-structured interviews with accounting professors across the UK. The analysis is informed by Paulo Freire’s dialogical pedagogy that provides a theoretical lens.

Findings

The findings highlight the persistent tensions faced by critical accounting researchers and suggest that certain modes of engagement may inadvertently limit broader support within business schools. While critical accounting research is widely recognised for its intellectual and ethical contributions, sustaining its influence requires reflexive attention to how critique, dialogue and leadership are enacted. The analysis underscores the importance of leadership grounded in dialogue, trust and humility.

Originality/value

This paper offers a reflexive, community-focused examination of the conditions under which critical accounting research can be sustained within business schools. By applying Freire’s dialogical framework to the data, this study moves beyond critique. Instead, it provides a praxis-oriented insight into how critical accounting researchers might strengthen engagement and long-term impact.