This study aims to examine how the emancipatory power of accounting enables ruptures of hegemonies in the context of entrepreneurial women in the Amazon. The research applied the personal testimony method with the participation of four entrepreneurial women with an accounting background. The data were collected through interviews. The results show that entrepreneurial women in the Amazon faced work environments with prejudice, devaluation, discredited capacity, and harassment. However, this scenario has been undergoing changes brought about by female entrepreneurship and, above all, accounting. The evidence indicates that the emancipatory power of accounting can provide a break with socially produced hegemonies, enabling the personal, professional, and financial independence of the women. Thus, the contribution of this study lies in the verification of the use of accounting to deconstruct prejudiced and chauvinistic social structures, reflecting positively on society and organizations.
TopIntroduction
Since the constitution of the former civil societies, men have attributed characteristics capable of identifying them as a superior being, mainly due to the historically associated idea of him being the family protector and defender of collective interests (Lugarinho, 2013). Men have also attributed the power of commercialization and market movement. However, this scenario has been undergoing changes, given the struggle and incorporation of women into these activities (Monteiro & Souza, 2007).
Nevertheless, female entrepreneurship has been the most contemporary means of manifestation of these changes (Nogueira et al., 2013; Dornelas, 2012). Female entrepreneurship is capable of transforming conceptions into opportunities (Dornelas, 2012), enabling the placement of many women in the labour market (Nogueira et al., 2013) and allowing for growth, benefits, and job generation for other women, becoming a positive cycle in societies (Monteiro & Souza, 2007).
In Amazon, entrepreneurial women create employment and income for the female public (Queiroz, 2013). Furthermore, entrepreneurship in the Amazon encourages family groups (Filion, 1999), as well as provokes a persistent search to preserve and develop sustainability in the context in which these women are inserted (Gomes, 2021). In this scenario, accounting can play a fundamental role, essentially in aiding the rupture of socially constructed paradigms (Sampaio et al., 2017).
The conventional purpose of accounting has not undergone significant changes over time. Its function remains to provide helpful information for economic decisions (Iudícibus, 2021). Nevertheless, accounting cannot be isolated from the social processes that take place both internally and externally in organizations (Mellemvik, Monsen & Olson, 1988). Thus, the broadening of the meaning of accounting has allowed contemporary research to present its emancipatory potential, that is, paradigmatic and situational changes that can be realized through accounting (Gallhofer & Haslam, 2017; Gallhofer, Haslam & Yonekura, 2015).
When relating accounting as an emancipation tool for entrepreneurial women, this area of knowledge stands out for the study of minorities in a social environment (Gallhofer & Haslam, 2017). Since hegemonies, double working day and the prejudiced practice continue strengthening barriers in disadvantage of women (Bruschini & Lombardi, 2002), accounting may be able to show society a new social view, enabling freedom, opportunity, among other factors (Haslam, 2016; Jonathan, 2005). Hegemonies are sustained in the economic, political, cultural, and ideological domains of dominant groups and vulnerable individuals (Faircclough, 2016). These constructs negatively affect diversity and the guarantee of fundamental rights (Ferreira, 1986). Therefore, instruments are needed to help minorities overcome these obstacles (Gallhofer & Haslam, 2017; Ferreira,1986).
Although there is research on accounting as a mechanism of social transformation (Gallhofer & Haslam, 2019; Sampaio et al., 2017), there is still a need in the specialized literature for studies that demonstrate the emancipatory power of accounting in remote regions and with minority groups (Gallhofer & Haslam; 2019; Queiroz, 2013; Filion,1999), such as that of active entrepreneurial women in the Amazon. To fill the existing gap in the literature, this study aims to examine how the emancipatory power of accounting enables ruptures of hegemonies in the context of entrepreneurial women in the Amazon. To this end, the research method used was oral reporting in the mode of personal testimony. Four entrepreneurial women with a degree in accounting and ventures located in the Amazon region participated in this study.