Social structures have traditionally been seen as forces that shape social practices in ways that typically reinforce conformity and continuity (see e.g. Giddens, 1979, 1984). Despite this though, history has taught us that even the most ingrained and taken-for-granted practices may undergo change over time. Not least in the management accounting (MA) literature, there has been a large and growing interest in exploring the theoretical dilemma that arises in the intersection of these two contradictory insights, often referred to as the paradox of embedded agency (Englund et al., 2013; Covaleski et al., 2013, Kilfoyle and Richardson, 2011; Sharma et al., 2014; Yang and Modell, 2013). The dilemma is as follows: if agents are embedded in social structures which largely condition their interpretations, intentions, and rationalities, how can they come to (un-)intentionally change these very structures? While the paradox as such was formulated for the first time some two decades ago (see e.g. Emirbayer and Mische, 1998; Holm, 1995), our understanding of it has arguably evolved over time as researchers from different disciplines (including MA) have discussed it from different viewpoints and by means of different theoretical perspectives. In particular, our understanding has developed rather significantly as researchers have come to relate the paradox to theories that claim to have overcome the previously dominating dualistic view on the relationship between structure and agency (see e.g. Emirbayer and Mische, 1998; Giddens, 1984; Macintosh and Scapens, 1990; Sewell, 1992). Given this development, the time now seems opportune to try to summarize and assess some of the insights gained, and also to discuss avenues for the future. It is to this end that we turn in this editorial to the Special Issue on management accounting and the paradox of embedded agency.