A systematic literature review of indigenous peoples and accounting

Abstract

There is an increasing realisation that accounting and accountability systems, like many other aspects of social and political life, are complex, multidimensional, and paradoxical . Addressing the call for research to examine the positioning of accounting in colonial processes and to contribute to current policy debates about government indigenous relations is a key motivation for this paper. We highlight the ways in which the colonial powers used accounting as a tool for imperialism and professional closure, and the increasing need for emancipation. We resonate with the call by Lombardi and Cooper who state that, “It may take another 200 years to achieve the same quality of life indicators as those of non-Indigenous peoples, but an initiative to create change in the space of accounting is urgently needed”. Understanding the research that has been conducted in this space is important and strengthening the knowledge base will help to bring about change – for tomorrow. Scientific and technological development in the 18th and 19th century in Europe facilitated the age of the great colonial empires . As a result, between 1800 and 1914 the amount of the world's land surface controlled by Europeans increased from 35 to 84% . Although military force formed the backdrop against which technologies of government were deployed in the remote colonies, the continual use of military force would likely have been too costly to maintain. Along with the hardware of imperial control guns, there was other software which influenced the process of imperial expansion, accounting being one of them . Indigenous peoples came to be known as a “site for cost cutting” and accounting was used for cost control and as a form of administrative imperialism . Colonialism was carried out in the name of an essentialised European racial superiority , wherein indigenous cultures were considered “savage” and “primitive”. The term ‘indigenous’ carries a span of meanings – it conveys a sense of original or first inhabitants who become “the inferior inhabitants of a place subjected to alien political power or conquest”. It further implicates significance of historical movement, characteristic cultural identification, attachment to land, the community right, and the relevance of discrimination or objectification by outsiders . There is a need to “better understand how colonialism continues to structure the relationship between governments and indigenous peoples”. With regards to accounting, researchers have highlighted its positioning within processes of colonialism and imperialism, suggesting that accounting discourses and technologies have been used to influence and control indigenous peoples. The purpose of this systematic literature review on ‘indigenous peoples and accounting’ is to identify major themes and derive insights to guide future research and policy agendas. We also investigate whether accounting has been used by the indigenous peoples for emancipation. This paper analyses the literature on “accounting and indigenous peoples” to explore the impact accounting has had on indigenous culture, identity, existence, and professional participation. In line with other accounting literature reviews, this paper adopts an unbiased approach to review the articles. Given the “complex differences between groups of indigenous people” our aim is to explore the major themes of research in this area rather than providing in-depth and critical examination of the articles. The literature search for research on indigenous peoples and accounting followed several steps. Search criteria included limiting the search to peer-reviewed articles written in English that were available in full text. To identify the relevant literature, two databases (Science Direct and ProQuest) were chosen based on their coverage of accounting journals and their popularity in accounting and business research. Using synonyms for ‘indigenous’, the following keywords were searched, and where possible based on the database settings this keyword search was restricted to the title, abstract and keywords of articles: (accountancy or accountants or accounting) AND (indigenous or Māori or native or black or non-white or aboriginal or ‘first nations’). The search identified 676 articles. Articles that contributed to the understanding of how accounting practices were used as a tool for imperialism and the position of indigenous peoples in accounting were included. A series of screening steps were applied to determine articles for exclusion including identifying duplicates, sorting articles by relevance, reviewing the abstract, the title and keywords for relevance, and reviewing the full article. The final 71 articles were reviewed using a four-stage coding process to classify articles into clusters and sub-clusters. Three clusters were identified—imperialism, accounting profession, and need for emancipation. The 71 articles were published in 19 journals, with the majority (14 journals) being accounting journals. The Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal (AAAJ) was the dominant journal, publishing 22 articles. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, publishing 11 articles, and Accounting, Organizations and Society, publishing 9 articles, were also in the top three journals. A wide range of indigenous peoples from various countries are included in the articles reviewed. The dominant countries are Australia (19.7% of the articles), Aotearoa New Zealand (16.9%) and Fiji (10%). Many of the articles adopted either a colonialism, imperialism or a Foucauldian theoretical perspective. The most common research methods were archival research/historical analysis and interviews. Cluster 1 Imperialism (30 articles) identified different forms of imperialism – coercive, cultural, collaborative, reproducing and impact of imperialism. Cluster 2 Accounting Profession (31 articles) focuses on the under-representation of indigenous peoples in accounting education and profession, and the role of the accounting profession in their discrimination. Cluster 3 Need for emancipation (10 articles) explores the need to focus on forward-looking solutions and how indigenous cultural values can contribute to a more enabling accounting and more effective reporting for all stakeholders. The role accounting practices and systems, and accountants, can play in empowering indigenous peoples is also explored in Cluster 3. This paper contributes to the existing body of literature in three distinct ways. First, this review highlights the role of accounting as a tool of imperialism which operated in several ways – coercive, cultural, collaborative, and reproducing imperialism. These practices have led to the continual impact on indigenous peoples in the post-colonial period. Accounting was used to improve the ‘moral habits’ of the indigenous peoples. Co-opting with bureaucratic machinery it dispossessed them of their most valuable tangible asset, land, and led to their subjugation, subjectification, marginalisation, and disempowerment. It effectively inherited colonial systems and separated and reduced indigenous peoples from their own cultures and structures. Thus, accounting helped reinforce, reproduce, and perpetuate colonial power. Second, the dominance of imported Western accounting systems marginalised indigenous peoples in the accounting profession. For example, in Australia, a nation where 3.3 per cent of the population is indigenous has only 0.02 per cent of accountants identify as indigenous ; and in South Africa where the indigenous peoples are in majority (81 per cent), the black Chartered Accountants are still underrepresented (about 16.2 per cent) . The main reasons identified are lack of education and opportunities, professional closure, lack of exposure, mistrust, lack of support and business skills, cultural differences, language barriers, institutional and racial bias, lack of role models and professional networks. Accountants themselves played a major role in the marginalisation by deploying accounting techniques to serve their clients, mainly colonial populations, and disadvantaging and disfavouring indigenous peoples. Third, on an optimistic note, there is a growing awareness that there is an urgent need to change, with the key measures being employment equity and skills development of indigenous peoples in the profession. Further, it is being recognised that accounting can better serve not only the indigenous peoples but also the environment and wider society. But this will need a new form of accounting, status quo will not work. Researchers and practitioners are increasingly recognising that it is imperative to contextualise and align accounting practices with indigenous cultures. This systematic literature 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. For effecting change we identify a need to focus on forward-looking solutions and how indigenous cultural values can contribute to a more enabling accounting. Colonial attitudes have persisted into the ‘post-colonial’ era and represent one of the most serious obstacles to global economic development. It is important to study this in the 21st century as it has proven to have a continual effect on indigenous peoples. We concur with Carnegie et al. that accounting is more influential than many people may think, and it has a potential to create a better world consistent with a more balanced perspective on people, planet, and profit.