Indigenous peoples and accounting: A systematic literature review

Abstract

The purpose of this systematic literature review is to examine the role of accounting on the lives of indigenous peoples, and whether they have used accounting as a tool for emancipation. Seventy-one peer-reviewed journal articles are categorised and analysed. This review positions accounting not as a mere neutral, benign, technical practice but as a racist and ethnocentric tool through the context in which it has been practised. Accounting was an integral part of imperial rule, inheriting colonial structures and separating and reducing indigenous peoples from their own cultures and structures. Indigenous accountants remain severely under-represented, and more action needs to be undertaken to ensure accounting practices and systems, accountants, and the accounting profession, develop an awareness and consciousness of indigenous cultural values that is reflected in their practices. Indigenous autonomy, voice and participation is vital for transforming the ethnocentric systems that have led to the devaluation of indigenous people.