VISUALIZING AND ANALYZING THE CRITICAL ACCOUNTING COMMUNITY

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE UOW CRITICAL ACCOUNTING COMMUNITY

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

CONCLUSION

This paper has examined the role of an academic thought leader in the development of a community of practice. Specifically, it has highlighted the influence of Emeritus Professor Michael Gaffikin in establishing a critical accounting community of practice at UOW through his PhD supervisions. Social network analysis was used to visualize Gaffikin’s network of direct and indirect PhD supervisions. Gaffikin’s commitment to ‘critical resistance’ (Gaffikin, 2009a, p. 268) was sustained by inspiring students, broadening their exposure to alternative conceptual and methodological frameworks, and integrating them into a tight-knit community of scholars at UOW. By encouraging participation in the intellectual community and reification of its core ideas, Gaffikin’s PhD supervisions were crucial for perpetuating the critical accounting movement. A total of 116 students comprises Gaffikin’s PhD supervision network. Over 90% of these students have conducted theses using a critical or postpositivist approach. The community that Gaffikin nurtured at UOW enabled social and professional networks to flourish. He guided with a ‘light hand’ (Irvine, 2017, p. 401) but encouraged connections amongst colleagues and students through joint supervisory meetings, and more broadly with the academic community through Doctoral Consortia. This led to strong ties among members of the community, such that many within the network continue to work together to develop critical accounting research (Silean, 2017). The conflation of a visionary thought leader and a supportive institutional space offered a ‘safe’ environment for the exploration of new, and perhaps radical, ideas of intellectual resistance within the critical accounting movement. More broadly, by highlighting the influence of thought leaders and research spaces on ideas, Gaffikin’s community of practice demonstrates the benefits—for accounting research and indeed all intellectual endeavour—of interconnectedness, collaboration, and a shared vision (Wenger, 2010).