ABSTRACT
In Chapter 3, professionalisation was identified as an important research area in accounting history. The aim of this chapter is to examine its contribution by highlighting the major themes and findings of the academic research published in the past two decades. The chapter tracks the geographical spread of professional organisation via the relays of empire and international capital in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and processes of regional integration and globalisation in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. It shows not only that professionalisation processes are diverse but also that the construction of professional identity in accountancy is intimately connected to relations both internal and external to the occupation, and to the wealth, social status and power of accountants. The chapter shows, furthermore, that the forms and outcomes of professionalisation endeavours are also intimately connected with the broader social context within which they occur. In this respect, histories of professionalisation falls squarely within the ‘new’ accounting history and the tradition of socio-historical accounting research discussed in Chapter 2. Suggestions for further research are also offered.
