“Using the discipline of semiotics, Lehman presents an extremely insightful and exhaustive analysis of accounting and business literature. The author clearly and expertly demonstrates that the professional literature has failed to acknowledge the profession’s participation in social conflict, and as a result has left the profession ill-prepared to respond to current societal needs. Chapters 1 through 3 rigorously lay out the theoretical and philosophical foundations for the research methodology. Chapters 4 and 5 are models of clarity, presenting an organized, clearly illustrated (with tables and graphs), and exhaustive analysis of the disturbing research findings. Chapter 6 provides a brief but well-founded conclusion followed by an excellent bibliography. This work is mandatory reading for all graduate students and faculty; it will enable them to understand how accounting can once again become a transforming discipline rather than an obstacle in a changing economy.”
— Choice Magazine
“The author takes a view she calls ‘dialectic,’ which assumes that accounting ‘both reflects and affects’ struggles and is ‘neither an insignificant player nor a mere bearer of facts.’ Under this view it is important to understand both the nature of social conflict in society and the role accounting plays in the social struggle. These ideas are the focus of the analysis in this book.
“It is ambitious, covering a wide range of material including economic theory, philosophy of science, structure of societies, feminist theory, critical theory, and semiotics. It is provocative in that it challenges the reader to recognize and question the most basic implicit and explicit assumptions of accounting professionalism and conventional accounting research. ”
— Accounting Review