Abstract:
There is widespread recognition both in and outside of the accounting discipline of the need
for 'accountings' that facilitate more participatory forms of decision-making
and
accountability. This is particularly evident in the social and environmental accounting
literature, which has long sought to take pluralism seriously. Theoretically, these calls are
embedded in the democratic rather than capitalist traditions of neo-liberal
Western societies.
This article draws on the work of ecological economist Peter Söderbaum to argue the case
for a 'positional' approach to decision-modelling.
It also builds on Baxter, Bebbington,
Cutteridge & Harvey (2003) to illustrate how this approach could be operationalised through
development of the sustainability assessment model (SAM).
