Benign sacerdotalist or pious assailant. The rise of the professional accountant in British management

Matthews et al.'s The Priesthood of Industry [Matthews, D., Anderson, M., & Edwards, J.R. (1998). The preisthood of the professional accountant in Bri tish management. Oxford: Oxford University Press] charts the encroachment o f professional accountants into the realms of management in Britain. It is suggested in this review essay that the brand of economic determinism emplo yed by the authors offers a partial explanation for that fundamental occupa tional shift. The functionalist and evolutionary foundation of Matthews et al.'s analysis invite a more critical interpretation of the accountants' st ratagem. A reading of The Priesthood of Industry also indicates several iss ues which require the attention of accounting historians. Among these are t he shifting character of the professional ideology; responses to entrepeneu rialism; the social derivation of professionals; the manner of jurisdiction al capture; a fuller understanding of the inter-war climacteric; and the co ntribution or otherwise of accountants to British economic decline. (C) 199 9 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.