Direções da pesquisa na história da contabilidade: reflexões e perspectivas
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/1808-057x2026100-8.enPalavras-chave:
história da contabilidade, contextos, níveis de teoria, fontes e métodos, colaboração internacionalResumo
O presente artigo revisita o texto do autor, “Research directions in accounting history” (“Direções de pesquisa na história da contabilidade”, em tradução livre) (Napier, 1989), uma das primeiras contribuições para o estudo historiográfico da contabilidade. Nele, são identificadas três abordagens principais para a história da contabilidade: “compreender o passado”, “contextualizar a contabilidade” e “o novo positivismo”. Além disso, antecipa-se, em certa medida, o conflito intelectual entre a história da contabilidade tradicional e a nova história da contabilidade, surgida na década de 1990 e que persiste até hoje. Esse conflito frequentemente enfatizava diferentes visões sobre o papel da teoria na pesquisa histórica da contabilidade, diferentes noções de fontes e métodos, e até mesmo diferentes visões sobre os limites e as fronteiras da própria contabilidade. Os historiadores da contabilidade ainda têm um amplo espaço para inovar, e muitas lacunas permanecem a serem preenchidas. Períodos, lugares, pessoas, práticas, propagação, produtos e profissões são algumas das dimensões que os pesquisadores da história da contabilidade podem considerar. Os pesquisadores mais novos podem colaborar de forma frutífera com os historiadores mais experientes para ampliarmos nosso conhecimento sobre o passado da contabilidade.
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