Breaking boundaries and creating inclusion-based organization through critical performativity and dialogical accountability: the case of FC United Manchester

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to extend research on boundary making and breaking through alternative football clubs. These entities have borne out of the disappointment caused by the neoliberal turn of the football industry, which excluded traditional fans from being active actors and therefore call for study and generalization of specific forms of alternative accountability.Design/methodology/approachThe study looks at emerging trends in the accounting and sport literature by drawing on two concepts that emerged in critical scholarship: critical performativity and critical dialogical accountability, with the aim of better understanding how these elements are developed and shaped within an alternative form of football organization. The focus on Football Club United of Manchester drives the ethnographic approach with data collected via participant observation, field-notes, documental analysis and semi-structured interviews.FindingsThe research shows that the pillars of the club's ethos, pushing its critical performative interventions toward setting new boundaries, are democratic governance and accountability, favoring participation and inclusion, and strictly linked to this, a responsibility to local communities. However, the study also highlights the difficulties of maintaining these boundaries when core values are threatened by degeneration.Originality/valueThe study makes a novel contribution to the field of accounting and sport, showing how an alternative football club adopts inclusive accountability systems that go beyond mainstream neoliberal practices. Such an inclusive approach can stimulate critical performativity, moving away from means-end rationality.

Introduction to special issue on ethnographies of accountability

“…We received 20 submissions, six of which have been contained in the special issue and the authors of four submissions were invited to resubmit for consideration in other issues of AAAJ. The six papers' order of appearance are: Gamble and Caton (2022), Azambuja et al (2023), Arikan (2023), Besson et al (2023), Goncharenko (2022) and Torchia et al (2023).…”

“…Finally, Torchia et al (2023) directly address the role of boundary-making and breaking in their analysis of an "alternative football club" -FC United Manchester. Following fans' disillusionment with the lack of democracy after the neoliberal turn in professional sport, this ethnography seeks to understand how the Club promotes more inclusive accountability and accounting practices.…”

“…These include democratically elected governance, local participation, a nonprofit focus and affordable game tickets. Theorised through dialogic thinking and critical performativity, Torchia et al (2023) recommend assessing organisational practices against the extent they engage and their ability to affirm and improve the social and environmental sphere. They trace critical moments of the Club's triumph and loss, outlining the "constructive conflict" inherent in the search for dialogical accountability.…”

“…Finally, Torchia et al. (2023) directly address the role of boundary-making and breaking in their analysis of an “alternative football club” - FC United Manchester.…”