ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the state of accountability as a concept elaborated in theological statements. It also examines how such commitments to accountability as a core value are manifest in practices. Another criticism that Carette makes of Foucault is that his focus on the confessional as a practice inducing accountability is that it causes him to neglect other aspects of the Catholic liturgy. Jayasinghe and Soobaroyen contrast the running of temples by lay actors with “Judeo-Christian accountability studies where religious organization is strongly and hierarchically controlled”. The culture of accountability produced in Scotland formed the context for the pre-eminence of Scottish accounting texts in the eighteenth century and the formation in Scotland of the first professional body for accountants in the nineteenth century. As Yasmin, Haniffa and Hudaib point out, both Islam and Christianity have a strong focus on accountability. The chapter concludes by indicating some of the gaps in our existing knowledge which future research might productively address.
