Special Issue Editorial: Social and Environmental Account/Ability 2020 and Beyond

Laine, Matias; Scobie, Matthew; Sorola, Matthew; Tregidga, Helen

doi:10.1080/0969160x.2020.1733631

Cited by 20 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 81 publications

(105 reference statements)

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“…With sustainability ratings and scores it is also worth noting that these second-order quantifications, which ostensibly measure organisational activities and performance, are often based on information organisations have reported themselves (Cho et al 2012), including first-order quantifications, which in themselves may already be loosely coupled from organisational action (Laine et al 2017;Boiral et al 2019). Again, while appearing accurate, the metrics can be outright meaningless, but this does not necessarily diminish their visibility or limit the power such numbers carry, As such, we would expect more discussion concerning the ethical, social and political dimensions associated with the numbers and metrics used in sustainability disclosure frameworks, such as GRI and SASB (see Laine et al 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within this context, one prominent and swiftly evolving phenomenon is corporate sustainability reporting, the role and relevance of which in society remains debated (see e.g. Bebbington et al 2014;Crane and Glozer 2016;Laine et al 2020;Michelon et al 2016;Saxton et al 2019). Cho et al (2015), for instance, split previous work in the field into two rough camps: those perceiving such disclosures as credible signals to the market about corporate activities and performance (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Just Look at the Numbers: A Case Study on Quantification in Corporate Environmental Disclosures

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This paper sheds further light on the role of quantification in corporate environmental disclosures. Quantification is an inherently social practice, which has attracted a fair amount of academic interest in recent years. At the same time, in the field of social and environmental accounting there is a paucity of research on quantification or the role it plays for organisations, for organisational communication and in societies more broadly. Accordingly, in this paper, we will draw on a qualitative case study to discuss the potential implications that might arise from the use of quantified information in corporate environmental disclosures. Our case study illustrates the diverse effects of quantification suggested in the prior literature by placing them in the context of corporate environmental disclosures. We discuss how quantification implies fake precisionism and promotes commensuration of incomparables, thereby limiting the discussion to themes and questions preferred by company management. We maintain that quantification, while appearing to produce neutral and value-free information, has a substantive ethical dimension through how it implicates accountability relationships as well as the respective power relations between diverse stakeholders in societies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Just Look at the Numbers: A Case Study on Quantification in Corporate Environmental Disclosures

et al. 2020

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“…This issue, guest edited by Matias Laine, Matthew Scobie, Matthew Sorola and Helen Tregidga, sought to reflect on, and open up for conversation, the current state of research into the field of SEA as well as consider its future. In addition to an editorial (Laine et al 2020) the special issue featured four articles which took up the challenge in various ways. Moses, Mohaimen, and Emmanuel (2020) undertook a meta-analysis of SEAJ, analysing previously published research and relatedly extant gaps.…”

Section: Background Music: Seaj In 2020mentioning

confidence: 99%

Editors Introduction to the Special Issue.I (we) won’t back down: Rob Gray’s Tribute Album

Rodrigue

Tregidga

2020

Social and Environmental Accountability Journal

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2020 will certainly be a year that will be remembered. While we are sure that for many 2020 has seen some positive and joyful moments, 2020 is likely to be remembered in not so fond ways. 2020 will be etched in history as the year that COVID-19 took hold over many parts of the globe and changed the way many of us lived. What long term effect the crisis will have is not yet known, but it has certainly affected our immediate present and it is hard to imagine that it will not have at least medium term impacts. The loss of life and long term medical effects are clear and daunting. However the pandemic has also, for example, exposed many problems with our current structures and processes, highlighting ableism, gender inequality and economic inequalities, to name just a few. COVID-19 (and responses to it) have arguably also disrupted the domains of the private and public spheres with, for example, governments supporting workers through various furlough/wage payment schemes-paying workers where the private sector cannot (or, perhaps in some cases, chooses not to). In parallel, there has been a (re)consideration of the nature of meaningful work. This has been illustrated through the prominence of the term 'key (essential) workers' and a focus on care workers, health workers, cleaners, and rubbish collectors, highlighting in the process what have been referred to as bullshit jobs (Graeber 2018). For many in the SEAJ community it will also be remembered sadly as the year that Professor Rob Gray passed. An event that has been, and will continue to be, felt closely across our community. While both these events underlie this editorial, it is the later that we focus on in this special issue. This editorial is structured into three parts. First, we will conduct the usual review of the previous year at the journal. Providing a snapshot of Volume 40 and a reflection on some key points as we look both back on the previous issue and forward to the following year and beyond. In the spirit of this special issue in which we pay tribute to Rob Gray and his legacy, we, the current editors, will then say a few words. While there are a number of things we could have covered here, each having known and engaged with Rob over the years, we have chosen to focus on Rob's contribution to this journal, which, as you will see below, was substantive. In the third and final section, our introduction to the

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“…Ditto for many of the social and environmental accounting papers published in key research journals. It feels like there would be a place for someone to carry on with the work Rob did with his colleagues and ask the fundamental questions that so often are sidestepped in the current academic environment (see also Laine et al 2020).…”

Section: Asking the Bigger Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Looking Further, Speaking out Louder: Tribute to Rob Gray

Laine

2020

Social and Environmental Accountability Journal

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Special Issue Editorial: Social and Environmental Account/Ability 2020 and Beyond

Cited by 20 publications

References 81 publications

Just Look at the Numbers: A Case Study on Quantification in Corporate Environmental Disclosures

Just Look at the Numbers: A Case Study on Quantification in Corporate Environmental Disclosures

Editors Introduction to the Special Issue.I (we) won’t back down: Rob Gray’s Tribute Album

Looking Further, Speaking out Louder: Tribute to Rob Gray

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