THE EDUCATION OF ACCOUNTANTS IN THE U.S.: REASON AND ITS LIMITS AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY

Abstract

The “revolution” that is said to be occurring in accounting education in the U.S. has been celebrated by many in ways that suggest a qualitative shift in emphasis. This paper argues that what has occurred is a revision of modes of control that continue to reflect the elaboration of modernist ideas. Within the articulation of these tenets, the contradictions that will undermine a movement to postmodernity can be detected. This paper studies institutional accreditation, curriculum revision and continuing professional education in order to examine the limits of rationality, educational expertise and spatial temporal ordering. Continuing professional education, in celebration of its many flaws, illustrates the only turn towards postmodernity.