Globalisation of knowledge but not opportunity: Closure strategies in the making of the South African accounting market, 1890s to 1958

Abstract

The global expansion of knowledge is one manifestation of the multi-dimensional phenomenon called globalisation. The “globalisation paradox” was recently used in an analysis of the impact of globalisation on the transfer of professional qualifications (Annisette and Trivedi, 2013). Here it is argued that earlier manifestations could be observed in the accounting realm. The globalisation of accounting knowledge led to intra-professional rivalry and the implementation of closure strategies in the periphery of the British Empire. Earlier literature explains such professionalisation activities in South Africa as the responses by non-British inhabitants. Further literature on post-independence states alludes to local challenges to the settlement and control of the accountancy market by British accountants. This article shows how, in the emerging “South African” market for accounting knowledge, rivalry between accountants from different British accounting bodies shaped the professionalization project in the local context. New archival material is used to reveal how the global expansion of accounting knowledge generated strategies to monopolise market access.

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