Richard Laughlin

This book advocates and illustrates the power of Interdisciplinary & Critical Perspectives, drawn from a range of social sciences, to critically analyse accounting processes & practices. Its particular focus is the extensive forms of societal regulations & requirements that are made over organisations, particularly public sector organisations, that are driven by forms of accounting, collectively described as Accounting Control in the book. These regulations & requirements are deeply resented by these public sector organisations and, as a result, all manner of resistance strategies are adopted, which are described as Controlling Accounting in the book. The book is primarily conceptual but, given the particular Interdisciplinary & Critical research approach adopted, relies heavily on drawing from empirical cases to develop the conceptual ideas. The book, therefore, analyses actual public sector Accounting Control & Controlling Accounting strategies and counter-strategies primarily, but not exclusively, from the United Kingdom, to develop the conceptual ideas. The book ends with a critical analysis of the forces & counter-forces of Accounting Control & Controlling Accounting.