Accounting histories of women: beyond recovery?

Purpose – This paper aims to make an assessment of the contribution made by accounting histories of women produced since 1992 and the current state of knowledge production in this subject area. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on a review of published sources on accounting history and women’s, gender and feminist history. Findings – Whereas feminist historians and historians of gender boast substantial advances in research and transformative impacts on the wider discipline of history, similar momentum is less evident in accounting history. It is argued that over the past 15 years scholarship has remained substantially in the “recovery” phase, has not “defamiliarized” the sub-field and is yet to engage with developments in feminist and gender historiography which offer regenerative potential. Research limitations/implications – The paper argues that sex and gender differentiation persist in both the past and the present and their study should feature large on the accounting history research agenda. Originality/value – Core themes in feminist and gender history are explored with a view to identifying research questions for accounting historians. These themes include the oppression and subordination of women, the public-private divide, restoring women to history, devising new periodisations, investigating socio-cultural relations, and the construction of identities.