Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 17, No. 3/4, pp. 313-341, 0361-3682/92 $5.00+ .

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1992. Printed in Great Britain Pergamon Press pie

ACCOUNTING: FILLING THE NEGATIVE SPACE*

RUTH D. HINES
Macquarie University, Sydney

Abstract

The issue of this paper is not with the man-woman dichotomy, that is, gender, but with the Universal
Feminine and Universal Masculine, also called, in Oriental cultures, the ''Yin" and ''Yang". From this
perspective, the interplay, tension, complementarity and union of opposites of the Universal Feminine and
Masculine, or Yin and Yang, is seen to pervade all existence. Reduction of the interdependent Yin and Yang
to the materialist woman-man dichotomy leaves the source of many environmental and social
problems invisible and unaddressed. That source is a consciousness which is imbalanced towards the
values and orientation of the Yang, resulting from a cultural repression of the realm of the Yin.
Accounting - management, financial and international -represents a most extreme manifestation and
embodiment of the Yang. Mainstream accounting research also reflects and reproduces the Yang orientation,
without a balancing of and by the Yin. Alternative accounting research to the mainstream, may be seen as
both reflecting and socially constructing a re-emergence of the values associated with the Yin.

There is and there is also is-not. Male is is, seeking is-

he said in a hilariously rhetorical tone, grabbing the salt
not; female is is-not, seeking is. So it is that in union so
and pepper shakers in both hands. "His true movement
much is found (Grigg, 1989, p. 193).
is between negativeness and positiveness" (Castaneda,
The fullness that is, is male; the emptiness that is not, is 1976, p. 126).
female. What is and what is not equally make wholeness.
His maleness is form, the full and visible, the shown The present worldwide domination of thinking,
and revealed. He is the spoken, the obvious and the discourse, decision-making and behaviour by
apparent; the answer without the first question. the language of accounting -financial, manage
Her femaleness is formless, the empty and invisible, ment, government and international -
the hidden and concealed. She is the unspoken, the
secret and the mystery; the first question without any
both reflects and socially reproduces a
answer (Grigg, 1989, p. 169). particular set of cultural values and
"We sense our two sides, but we always represent them
conceptions of reality. Accounting reflects
with items . . . We say that the two parts of us are the and reproduces a view of the world, as
soul and the body. Our mind and matter. Or good and externally and concretely "out there", in a
evil. God and Satan. We never realize, however, that we way which can be divided and disassociated
are merely pairing things . . . very much like pairing
from the inner experience of people. Reality
coffee and tea, or bread and tortillas, or chili and
mustard. I tell you, we are weird animals. We get carried
can be known "objectively" through
away and in our madness we believe ourselves to be accounting, uncontaminated by subjec tive
making perfect sense". feelings and desires. Through the accounting
Don Juan stood up and addressed me as if he were an gaze reality is seen to be divisible and
orator ... "Man doesn't move between good and evil",
quantifi able. Particular aspects of reality are
identified, named and so separated and
delineated -

•My thanks to Pat Allport, Tricia Barton, Elizabeth Cain, Peter Edwards, Zoe Fitzpatrick, Patricia Garland, Margaret Gillings,
Maureen Heffernan, Bob Mayze, Tom Ryan and Sue Wright.
313
314 RUTH D. HINES

assets, liabilities, expenses, revenues, capital Shiva; in Western psychology, Anima and
- and these realities are combined, Animus, and in science, negative and positive
recombined, added and subtracted. In poles and charges. Both these polar "opposites"
combination they create and delimit the exist within men and women, societies and
boundaries of organiza tions, and determine the world of nature and environment. Both
the equity rights or "share" of reality to opposites exist in all life but one of them
which people are entitled. may be repressed or neglected, leading to
From the accounting point of view, time is an imbalance in favour of the other. Such
linear and divisible into sequential accounting imbalance becomes antithetical to survival,
periods. Accrual adjustments enable the alloca growth and wholeness, psychologically, physi
tion of reality to its proper time period, cally and spiritually. 1
enabling the calculation of accumulations of What is at stake then in the debate over
profits and wealth, or losses. The ideal or goal is gender in accounting, includes, but goes far
to maximize productivity and profitability in beyond, the suppression of women, to embrace
the minimum amount of time. People and other the suppression of the values, perceptions, and
"resources" are valued according to their effici ways of thinking, feeling, being and acting that
ency, that is, their ability to contribute to this are associated with the Universal Feminine or
maximization of productivity and profitability. Yin. This suppression, in which the language of
From the accounting viewpoint, and also that accounting is vitally implicated, affects the lived
of mainstream accounting research, which experience of both men and women, and has
reflects and socially reproduces the same values resulted in serious consequences not only for
and perceptions as accounting practice, the society, but also for the natural environment.
world is rational, logical and analysable. The worldwide domination of thought by the
Accounting calculations and measures provide values and assumptions which underlie the
a basis for rational decision-making, enabling a language of accounting, both reflects and ex
rational, "efficient", profit-maximizing, allocation tends a domination and repression of the realm
of resources. As well as being rationalist, of the Universal Feminine or Yin -the values
accounting is profoundly materialistic and of caring, and sharing; the prioritizing of
reductionistic. Accounting is concerned purely feelings; the reality and value of the non
with material reality - goods and services marketable and non-material; the importance
- but even more selectively than this, it of the imaginative, intuitive and creative; a
only recognizes as real-ized, those aspects of vision of the wholeness and interdependence
these that can be bought and sold in markets. of the world, and a knowledge of and faith
These values, and perceptions of reality, in the creative potential of stillness, rest and
which the language of accounting embodies, silence.
are those which throughout many cultures, One contention of this paper is that to focus
philosophies, psychologies and spiritual tradi on the physical, external, hard and objective,
tions have been associated with what is called such as the gender dichotomy of men and
the "Universal Masculine" or "Absolute women, is to engage in a discourse which, like
Masculine". accounting, and mainstream accounting re
The Universal or Absolute Feminine and the search, embodies and proliferates the Yang,
Universal or Absolute Masculine are also unbalanced by the Yin.
called, in Chinese philosophy, the Yin and Discussions centring around hard, objective
Yang. In Indian philosophy, they are named
Shakti and

' As Lawlor ( 1990, p. 39) recognizes, the word "spiritual" has been used and abused in recent years to the point that its
meaning is either completely personalized or obscured. He, therefore, sets forth a definition, which will also be adopted in
this paper. He defines spirituality as "all our efforts to become more conscious of the energies and entities that exist outside
of our normal perception, including those immeasurable aspects of our own inner nature".
 FILLING THE NEGATIVE SPACE
315

"structures" and "systems" such as "class" and To reduce the polarities of the Yang and
"capitalism" (e.g. Tinker & Neimark, 1987), Yin to physical maleness and femaleness and
"patriarchy" and "profession" (e.g. Crompton, also to relate these to social "structures", is
1987), illuminate social "structures" which not truly radical, since it reproduces the values
realize and objectify Yang norms and values and conceptions of the day, and maintains the
within people and society. However, exclusions of the day, reducing the possibilities
Hopwood ( l987a, p. 67) calls for of emancipation, for both women and men.
"discussions . . . de signed to provide some Burrell ( 1987, p. 100) suggests that "in
initial views of an as yet invisible element of order to free others, we must first free
accounting's functioning", and one contention ourselves - perhaps even from our own
of this paper is that to focus exclusively on the discipline". And that "we would be foolish
reality which is "out there" and concrete, is to underestimate how difficult this will prove
to reproduce the values and conceptions to be" (p. 100). The work of Foucault
which, as an extreme and un balanced Yang (1971, 1979, 1982) describes how power
language and social practice, accounting operates through the construction of
reproduces. It leaves invisible and subjectivity, but Foucault gives no clues as to
unactivated the energies of the Universal how one may transcend one's subjectivity,
Feminine or Yin: the soft, the inner, feeling as and become a truly emancipatory influence on
well as reason, intuition as well as intellect, others. But he does suggest ( 1982,
the unconscious as well as conscious, the p. 216) that, "maybe the target nowadays is not
spiritual as well as the material and physical, to discover what we are, but to refuse what we
and meditation, contemplation and rest as are". But how do we "refuse what we are",
well as action and striving. As Knights & given that what we are is constituted by
Willmott (1985, p. 40) recognize, "the discourse, and that forms of discourse are
emancipatory potential of radical theory will constituted by, and ensure the reproduction of
not be realised unless the interpenetration of society through forms of selection, exclusion
the 'structural' and 'existential' dimensions of and domination (Young, 1981, p. 48)? The
. . . life is fully appreciated" (also Willmott, answer would seem to lie in retrieving what is
1986; Willmott & Knights, 1982; Knights & not selected, what is excluded and suppressed.
Willmott, 1989). What is presently excluded and repressed in
Cirlot ( 1971, p. xliv) discusses the tendency, the world, highly reflected and reproduced
especially prevalent in Western rationalist by accounting discourse and practice, and
culture, to "degrade the symbol'" by "over mainstream accounting research, is all that
particularization of interpretation of its mean is associated with the Universal Feminine or
ing". For example, "from the Freudian school Yin.
onwards, the level of a great many symbolic
interpretations has been that of sexual activity"
(p. xlix). This reduction of the reality to which YANG AND YIN
a word-symbol refers, to the physical, excludes
the psychological and metaphysical. At the very roots of Chinese thinking and feeling there
lies the principle of polarity, which is not to be
confused with the ideas of opposition or conflict. In
One example of this kind of prejudiced interpretation the metaphors of other cultures, light is at war with
can be seen in the Freudians, who claimed to unveil the darkness, life with death, good with evil, and the
universal sexuality of all objects and forms because positive with the negative, and thus an idealism to
they demonstrably belonged to one or the other of two cultivate the former and be rid of the latter flourishes
broadly opposed groups: the masculine and the femi throughout much of the world. To the traditional way
nine. But the Chinese, with their Yang-Yin symbol, of Chinese thinking, this is as incomprehensible as
and the Hindus, and the Hebrews had long ago an electric current without both positive and
established the essential polarity of the world of negative
phenomena according to generic principles, including poles, for polarity is the principle that + and -, north
[i.e. not confined to] the sexual division (Cirlot, 1971, and south, are different aspects of one and the same
p. xlvii ).
316 RUTH D. HINES

system, and that the disappearance of either one of

them would be the disappearance of the system.
and is-not, are mutually generative and mutu
ally supportive, "for it is the great and imaginary
. . In Chinese the two poles of cosmic energy are yang
(positive) and yin (negative) . . . and they are associated
terror of Western man that nothingness will be
with the masculine and feminine, the firm and the the permanent end of the universe. We do not
yielding, the strong and the weak, the light and the dark easily grasp the point that the void is creative,
. . . Thus the art of life is not seen as holding to yang and that being comes from nonbeing as sound
and banishing yin, but as keeping the two in balance from silence" (Watts, 1979, p. 23).
because there cannot be one without the other ...When
regarding them as the masculine and the feminine, the
Choudhury ( 1988), in attempting to redress
reference is not so much to male and female individuals the Yang imbalance in accounting research
as to characteristics which are [or may be, especially towards investigating extant accounting sys
depending on cultural conditioning] dominant in, but tems, investigates what must arise mutually
not confined to, each of the two sexes (Watts, 1979,
with the presence of accounting, that is, the
pp. 19-21).
absence of accounting. He commences his
In the realm of thought, yin is the complex, female,
article (p. 549) with a quote from Lao Tzu
intuitive mind, yang the clear and rational male
intellect. Yin is the quiet contemplative stillness of the which expresses the Yang and Yin of the Tao.
sage, yang the strong, creative action of kings (Capra,
1983a, p. 119). Thirty spokes are made one by holes in a hub
Together with the vacancies between them,
As Watts (1979, p. 20) points out, to those They comprise a wheel;
conditioned to the rationalist and materialist The use of clay in moulding pitchers
Comes from the hollow of its absence;
Western culture, the interdependence of the
Doors, windows in a house
polar opposites is a frustrating conception, Are used for their emptiness;
because it seems to deny any possibility of Thus we are helped by what is not
progress, an ideal which flows from our linear To use what is.
(as distinct from cyclic) view of time and
history. Indeed, the whole intent of Western At the same time that Lao Tzu and his
rationality and technology is to "make the followers were developing their view of the
world a better place" - to have pleasure world or "Tao" as consisting of the interplay
without pain, wealth without poverty, and of polar opposites, in the sixth century B.C.,
health without sickness. But, as Watts ( 1979, the essential features of this Taoistic view
p. 20) states: were being taught in Greece by the
philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus. Like Lao
But, as is now becoming obvious, our violent efforts to Tzu, he saw that all opposites are polar and
achieve this ideal with such weapons as DDT, thus united, rather than logical and thus
penicillin, nuclear energy, automotive transportation,
dualistic and separate (Capra, 1983a, p. 128).
computers, industrial farming, damming, and
compelling everyone, by law, to be superficially "good "The words of Heraclitus - 'Cold things
and healthy" are creating more problems that they warm themselves, warm cools, moist dries,
solve. We have been interfering with a complex parched is made wet'
system of relationships which we do not understand, -remind us strongly of those of Lao Tzu, 'Easy
and the more we study its details, the more it eludes
us by revealing still more details to study. As we try
gives rise to difficult . . . after follows before'"
to comprehend and control the world it runs away (Capra, 1983a, p. 128).
from us. Common to both Heraclitus and the Taoists
was a vision of the unity of the world. The
The key to the relationship between Yang Western view is characterized by dualism: the
and Yin is called bsiang sbeng -mutual arising split between body and mind, cause and effect,
or inseparability (Watts, 1969, 1979; May, subject and object, and so on. However, Yin and
1988). But it is difficult in rationalist logic to Yang are not a dualism, they are interconnected
see that, for example, being and nonbeing, is like different, but inseparable, sides of a coin,
the poles of a magnet, or pulse and interval in
 FILLING THE NEGATIVE SPACE
317

any vibration (Watts, 1979, p. 22; Watts, 1969; traditions. It is seen as an ongoing experience in
Capra 1983a; May, 1988). learning to transcend one's ego and become
A similar conception of the world as consist united with one's polar opposite and this is a
ing of a dynamic interplay of polar opposites is training for achieving a still more perfect union,
held in Indian philosophy. In Indian tantra a spiritual union between oneself and one's
philosophy and psychology, the primordial ideal, and ultimately between the masculine
polarity is symbolized by Shiva, the Universal and feminine aspects of the Divine (Ajaya,
Masculine principle, and Shakti, the Universal 1983, p. 93). The Kabbalistic tradition "re
Feminine. According to tantra, similar to the jected asceticism and continued to regard
Taoist, all human beings contain both marriage . . . as one of the most sacred mys
Masculine and Feminine potentials within teries. Every true marriage is a symbolic
themselves but are not conscious of both. The realization of the union of God and the
ultimate goal is to experience the union of Shekhinah" (Sholem, 1961, p. 235) (In the
these two potentials. In this union, all polarities Kabbalistic tradition the Shekhinah is con
within and without are transcended; one tran sidered to be the feminine aspect of God, and
scends dualistic existence and experiences also the dwelling place of the soul.)
"enlightenment" of unitary consciousness: all is On the other hand, the Christian church has
one, and one is all. Less evolved forms of tantra reflected and been a major factor in socially
may involve the ritualistic union of a man and a constructing and reproducing a Yang world
woman, but this is a symbol of the union of the view, unbalanced by the Yin, resulting in
primordial pair and thus of all polarities. In asceticism associated with a body (and especi
higher forms of tantra, the outward projection ally sex and sensuality) versus spirit dualism,
is withdrawn and no external ritual is used. The and a repression of the Yin realm. The fear and
yogi recognizes that his complement exists repression of sensuality, and woman, an incar
within himself (Ajaya, 1983): nate symbol of the Universal Feminine, is a
reflection of this imbalance. "In taking her
She who "shines like a chain of lights" ... in the centre of
stand, the church has separated . . . heaven and
his body is the "Inner Woman" to whom reference was
made when it was said, "What need have I of my outer
earth, spirit and matter, soul and body, and in so
woman? I have an Inner Woman within myself" . . . The doing has damaged the human spirit, and has
. . . Yogi unites within himself his own principles, been false to its own message of the Incarna
female and male (Woodroffe, 1969, p. 442, cited by tion" (Sanford, 1980a, p. 116).
Ajaya, 1983, pp. 95-96). The Yang imbalance in the Christian church
may be seen not only in the analytic dualizing
Similarly, within the Jewish mystical tradi of spirit and body, but also in the strength of
tion, the Kabbalah is a symbolic system the perceived virtue attaching to work, busi
express ing the fundamental pattern, the ness, efficiency, productivity and material pro
archetypal structure of the cosmos, society and vision -the Protestant work ethic; the "hard"
the individual psyche. The Kabbalah (Cabala, structuring of the church, perhaps the most
or Qabbala) contains the polar opposites of the organized and hierarchical of all religions; strict
Universal Feminine and Universal Masculine, boundaries around such dualities as "good" and
often indicated as three pillars, the central pil "evil", "virtue" and "sin", especially within
lar signifying the union of all "opposites" the Catholic church but increasingly within
(Chetwynd, 1982; Cirlot, 1971; Dan & Kiener, fundamentalist Protestantism, and the emphasis
1986). on the outer, such as attendance at church,
In the Hebrew tradition today, the marriage and church and community activities, and
between a man and a woman is not seen as an the repression and susp cion of inner
end in itself, but as an adumbration of the spiritual experience unmediated by a priest or
mystic marriage described in the spiritual minister.
318 RUTH D. HINES

Cain ( 1990) cautions that more is at stake of . . . women" as symbols and expressions of
in redressing this imbalance than the social the true Feminine:
eleva tion of women in the Christian church.
In advocating change through a balancing
As we contemplate these women disciples and
with in the Masculine-dominated church with leaders in the earliest Christian communities there
the Universal Feminine, she describes the emerges a feminine pattern of great strength, of single
Masculine and Feminine as follows: mindedness, of creativity, and most centrally of a full·
hearted love and compassion ... the [feminine] energy
as it is portrayed in scripture and in the lives of women
The masculine -the yang or active principle of human mystics is by no means weak, vacillating or subordinate
existence .. . is strong, outgoing, achievement-centered (Cain, 1990, p. 34 ).
and goal-oriented. This life energy which inheres in
both men and women is the energy of sharp edges,
straight lines and clear definition. Symbols such as the She sounds a caution, in relation to gender
phallus, the tower, the mountain, the sword and the issues in the church, which will be echoed in
knife express something of its thrusting penetrating relation to issues of gender in society and
energy. It is an energy of "Logos", the word expressing
specifically in accounting practice and research,
the thought that penetrates the mind. Its awareness is
discrete and it objectifies reality. In its most positive throughout this paper:
form it may be expressed as spirit and creative energy;
in its negative form [i.e. unbalanced by the Feminine or A true feminism will be principally concerned with the
Yin qualities] it is overriding, tyrannical and without restoration of a true feminine rather than the destruc·
imagination or compassion. tion of the patriarchy, although some dying or destruc
tion may be part of a total process. But the feminist, man
The feminine [or] the yin [ is the] receptive or woman, who bases a way of being that sets out to
principle of life. The feminine energy . . . takes the destroy the other rather than to find themselves, is most
opposite shape to the masculine and is the receiver, the likely unconsciously dominated by the very same
container, the nurturer. Her symbols are many - negative masculine energy they are setting out to
the night, the earth, the sea, the cave, the cup. She is destroy. When this is happening it may be recognised by
"Eros" that which relates; she is mysterious; she spins, a certain drivenness and inability to hear an opinion
weaves and dances. In her most positive form she is other than one's own (Cain, 1990, p. 34 ).
Wisdom, Sophia, the feminine face of God, or the
earth mother who receives and nurtures life; in her
negative form [ i.e. unbalanced by the Masculine or Beneath the concrete layers of the organized
Yang qualities] she is seductive, devouring and Christian church, in addition to the Biblical
possessive. women who archetypically reflect the qualities
of the Universal Feminine, lies a spiritual and
In the human person the earliest known and primarily
experienced mode is embodied as the physical forma mystical tradition which, like the other great
tion of male or female. As life grows the task becomes world philosophies, sees the world as consist
the recognition, encounter and integration of the ing of polar opposites: the is-not - death,
opposite both within the person and between persons sickness, suffering, losing, refraining, silence
(Cain, 1990, p. 33).
- is as essential to existence as the is:

In advocating a "true feminism" Cain ( 1990) To every thing there is a season, and a time to every
states that because the feminine has been purpose under the heaven;
drastically repressed, one of the repercussions A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant,
is that many women "caught as they are in and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
a patriarchal system which consistently de A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break
down, and a time to build up;
values the feminine have never really dis A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn,
covered or learned to express the 'true' and a time to dance;
feminine that is their heritage" (p. 34). She A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones
points back to a Christian heritage which together;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from
includes "many examples that are undeniable
embracing;
evidence of the kading and inspirational roles
 FILLING THE NEGATIVE SPACE 319

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a

time to cast away;
there can be no summer without winter, so
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep without "dying to oneself" or "letting go",
silence, and a time to speak; there can be no new life: no new attitudes or
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a perceptions, no new values or experiences, no
time of peace. new insights or ways of being (see Levine,
(Ecclesiastes iii, 1--8)
1982, who draws on several traditions in
articulating this theme).
Fox ( 1983) has attempted to retrieve the
May ( 1987, p. 101) compares Thomas a
Universal Feminine of the Christian tradition,
Kempis in his Imitation of Christ . . . "'Be
long repressed (also Fox, 1989; Giles, 1989;
assured of this, that you must live a dying life' . .
McNamara, 1977; McDonagh, 1990; Welch,
. [and] John of the Cross 'He that knows how
1982; Sanford, 1977, 1978, 1980a, b):
to die to all things will have life in all things'"
The Enlightenment -the en-light-en-ment -has ren
with the Taoist view which says "'to die but
dered all of us who live in Western civilization citizens not to perish is to be eternally present'". On a
of the light. Questers after left-brain -which is light similar note, he points out (May, 1987, p. 103)
oriented satisfaction. The invention of the light bulb .. that the Tibetan Book of the Dead is not just
. was a marvellous outgrowth of the Enlightenment's
for the dead, but for the living, in the
technological achievement. And . . . there came also
radio, so that now not only were our eyes attracted to
understanding that birth and death happen
what is outside of us but our ears were as well. With uninterruptedly in each human life.
television we experienced a new kind of light machine Willmott & Knights ( 1982), concerned with
-one that combines eyes and ears, light and radio, to the development of a critical theory of work
lure us out of ourselves . . . Religion too has become
organization, elucidate a similar insight, relying
very light-oriented in the West ...
on Mahayana Buddhism:
What price as a people have we paid for all this light?
We have become afraid of the dark. Afraid of no light. A particular value of Mahayana Buddhism, Fromm
Afraid of silence ... A light-oriented spirituality is observes, is that it "does not contradict the rationality,
superficial, surface-like, lacking as it does the deep, realism and independence which are modern man's
dark roots that nourish (Fox, 1983, p. 134). precious achievements".

... Fromm shows how, instead of looking upon frustra

Fox ( 1983) draws on the Christian mystical tion and disappointment as a sign of a weak ego or as a
and creation-centred tradition which, as well as fated feature of the human condition, Mahayana
Buddhism regards this source of suffering as a sign of
the "light", acknowledges and embraces the
basic intelligence and emancipatory potential. The
reality of darkness, emptiness, pain and suffer experience of disappointment exposes the incapacity of
ing as an essential aspect of the world and egoistic filters and defences to manage or manipulate
human existence. Fox (1983, pp. 132-156) the openness of human existence in ways that confirm
describes the psychological and spiritual path their effectiveness. From the standpoint of Mahayana
Buddhism, the psychological key to freedom lies in
of the Christian Via Negativa: "such a journey
overcoming irrational strivings by attaining a genuine
[does) . _ . not consist of manufacturing religious recognition and acceptance of the futility of pursuing
experiences but of letting go and letting be, of an escapist, egoistic form of control over our existence.
breathing deeply, of trusting the empty spaces In contrast to Marx, who concentrates upon the social
and the silences. Of sinking, therefore, and not structural sources of this distortion, its focus is upon
men's egotistical preoccupation with controlling
of climbing" (p. 139).
situations so as to secure a solid self. Only by
The central message of Christianity, portrayed abolishing or "letting go" of this preoccupation, it is
through the death and resurrection of Jesus argued, can we experience the world without
Christ, is that death precedes new life, and so a egoistic attachment to our self-mediations (Willmott
denial of darkness, suffering and death is a & Knights, 1982, pp. 217-218).

denial of life. This is the same insight as

Fox (1989, p. 63) quotes Bonhoeffer as stating
contained in Taoist philosophy that as in nature,
that "peace is the opposite of security". Security
320 RUTH D. HINES

of possessions, the security of reasoned argu emigrating one by one to the mountains and growth·
ments which depend upon subject--0bject center retreats in the West (Watts, 1979, p. 127).
distinctions and dualisms but can be "proven",
security of identity and the security of defini
tions and clear-cut boundaries, which inevi THE UNIVERSAL MASCULINE (YANG) AND
tably create dualities, do not lead to peace, but UNIVERSAL FEMININE (YIN ) IN MODERN
separation, alienation and existential anxiety. PSYCHOLOGY
Thus the need for the individual to "die
to" or "let go" of his or her attachment to Modern psychology, incorporating the in
these in order to find peace. As Watts ( 1979, sights and flowing on from the work of Carl
p. 32) says, "when no risk is taken there is no Jung, confirms the idea of the inner marriage of
freedom". polar opposites. The Feminine polarity within a
There is an increasing attraction of people in man, Jung called the Anima, and the Masculine
the Masculine West to the philosophies and polarity within a woman, the Animus. This
psychologies of the East (Ferguson, 1980; unconscious potential for inner realization is
Wilber, 1985; Ajaya, 1983). The Eastern cul generally projected onto a partner and con
tures of China, India, Tibet and (previously) sciously related to by the individual through
Japan may be seen as reflecting and reproducing relating to that other person. Growth in
the insights, values and conceptions associated consciousness occurs by withdrawing these
with the Universal Feminine -inner, receptive, projections back into one's own consciousness,
emptying, holist, intuitive and experiential. and seeing the other person for themself, and
"The most important characteristic of the allowing them to be themself. The usual way of
Eastern worldview . . . is the awareness of the relating to these unconscious contents in the
unity and mutual interrelation of all things and modern West is through sexual partnership
events, the experience of all phenomena in the and/or marriage because alternative psycho
world as manifestations of a basic oneness. All spiritual paths for real-izing this union inwardly
things are seen as interdependent and insepar are not available in the rationalist, materialist
able parts of this cosmic whole" (Capra, 1983a, culture (Jung, 1964, 1968; Progoff, 1981; Ajaya,
p. 141). Associated with this Feminine orienta 1983; Sanford, 1980a). Sanford (1980a, p. 112)
tion has been a lack of concern for the outer, acknowledges that "to achieve this union of the
active, analytic and reasoning potential, with its opposites within ourselves may very well be
concern for material provision and progress. the task of life, requiring the utmost in
However, Western Masculine values and per perseverance and assiduous awareness".
ceptions are now influencing the Oriental East. Sanford ( l 980a, p. 66) evocatively
For people in the West, synthesis of Western describes the anima's life-giving role:
Masculine values and conceptions with those of
Eastern Feminine traditions may provide the
Masculine consciousness has been likened to the sun,
means for an "inner marriage", and liberation and feminine consciousness to the moon. At noon
from the objectification of all life via the everything is seen in bright outline and one thing is
deification of material progress and reason clearly differentiated from another. But no one can
(Wilber, 1985; Houston, 1987; Ajaya, 1983; stand too much of this hot, bright sun. Without the cool,
the moist, the dark, the landscape soon becomes
Watts, 1969, 1972, 1979).
unbearable, and the earth dries up and will not produce
life. That is the way a man's life becomes without the
Eastern philosophy has been gradually permeating all
fertilizing influence on him of the feminine. Without a
walks of life in the West while everyone laments the
relationship to his inner world, a man can focus, but
disappearance of the gentle East under increasing
lacks imagination; he can pursue goals, but lacks
technological and industrial demands. Undoubtedly,
emotion; he can strive for power, but is unable to be
there will be more freeways and polluting chimneys in
creative because he cannot produce new life out of
the East while most great masters of the Orient are
himself. Only the fruitful joining of the Yin principle to
 FILLING THE NEGATIVE SPACE
321

the Yang principle can stir up his energies, can prevent

his consciousness from becoming sterile, and his
integrated within a person. As Houston ( 1987,
masculine power from drying up. p. 101) puts it: "Myth is something that never
was but is always happening". Western culture
impedes this growth process because it is one
Caution must be exercised in generalizations
of the few cultures that demands a singular self:
about the attributes of the unconscious con tents
at the level of gender, or man or woman,
The genius of the child is to become what he beholds
because the contents of consciousness, and
- dog, kitten, tree, bug, cloud. The child seeks
what is denied, and repressed in the unconsci understand ing by incarnating the world. So as a child
ous, is highly culturally dependent. So, for you were permitted to enjoy many and manifold
example, one cannot equate womanness in selves. At a certain point they were declared
Western society with the Universal Feminine or unreal or inap propriate, and your genius for identity
was truncated. In some, this loss of psycho-ecology, of
Yin. Many women have been conditioned to the
being permitted to have leaky margins with reality at
Universal Masculine or Yang way of being. For large, can result years later in pathology. Because the
example, they prioritize reason and logic, yearning of the manifold self to complexify, is kept in
accept hard hierarchies, and are motivated by a pressure cooker, it can eventually explode and
and/or concerned about, and/or work towards fracture. If we can only recognize and encourage
the healthy development and orchestration of our
material security. For such women, inner
various selves, we will avoid much incipient neurosis
growth requires, as for most men in the and pathology (Houston, 1987, pp. 30-31).
Masculine West, the nurturing of their feeling
and intuitive potentials, simply being rather
A number of authors show how myths, such
than always actively doing, embracing silence
as that of Psyche and Eros (Houston, 1987;
and deepening in their interior, creating recep
Johnson, 1977a) and Parsifal and his search for
tivity rather than constant productivity, and
the Grail Qohnson, 1977b) provide patterns for
experiencing rather than reasoning. Such a
guiding the unfolding of the unconscious
direction does not involve an absolute denial of
Masculine and Feminine aspects of a person
the Masculine or Yang, but a balancing and
so that they may become fully conscious.
integration of it with the softness of the
Harding ( 1976) and de Castillejo ( 1973) show
Feminine or Yin. A "dying to" or "letting go" of
how myths such as that of Isis and Osiris
attachment to a way of being, creates the
elaborate a Feminine psychology. The Animus
"space" for the creative amplification and
and the Anima, or inner Masculine and inner
extension of being, and paradoxically, re
Feminine, have multiple aspects which myth
empowers (Ajaya, 1983;Johnson, 1977b, 1986;
illuminates. For example, Zabriskie ( 1974, cited
Jung, 1968; Sanford, 1980a).
by Sanford, l980a, p. 110) describes how the
A principle function of myth that has been
five major goddesses of the upperworld in
almost lost in Western society, with its duality
Greek mythology -Athena, Aphrodite, Demeter,
between the soft symbol and the hard real and
Hera and Artemis -provide a kind of "typology
its rejection of the validity of the former, is
of the feminine". Each goddess he suggests is
that of articulating the typical patterns and
different, and each is "an image of a genuine,
sequences of life in the Cosmos, in society, and
ancient, valid mode of the Feminine". Such
in the individual psyche (Chetwynd, 1982, pp.
myths provide archetypes of ways of being that
276-278; Cirlot, 1971, pp. xl-lv; Campbell,
are not taught, acknowledged or encouraged in
1972; Houston, 1987; Sanford, 1980a,
Western culture with its narrow norms of "wife
b;Johnson, 1977b).
and mother" and/or "working woman" (see
At the level of the psyche, a crucial role of
also Bolen, 1985).
myth is as an articulator and guide to the
As mentioned previously, myth can be over
patterns through which the archetypes of the
particularized and over-intellectualized, in which
Masculine and Feminine are real-ized and
case the "creative drive of the symbol . . . is
322 RUTH D. HINES

restricted, and it is made to bear labels which to do with logic and rational thought and with
are over-concrete, too materialized or inferior. such aspects of the personality as assertive
Its metaphysical reality is arrested, and con ness, aggressiveness and [if unbalanced by the
sequently a single plane of reality comes to be Feminine] authoritarianism - in the
mistaken for the sum of all possible levels of Chinese cosmology, the yang" (Dychtwald,
symbolic meaning" (Cirlot, 1971, p. 1). Freud 1986, p. 30). The right hemisphere "is
made this mistake. Seeing psychopathology considered to be related to the feminine
against a background of the Oedipus myth, his aspects of the character. Personality constructs
method reverted to positivism and became such as emotionality, passivity, creative
reductionistic. "Instead of leading events back thought, holistic expression, and the yin, or
to . . . myth . . . Freud tried to base the myths receptive forces" (Dychtwald, 1986, p. 30)
on the actual behaviour of actual biological (see also Lawlor, 1990).
families, ultimately reducing the mythical to the Western civilization, which dominates the
pathological" (Hillman, 1977, p. 100, quoted world today, has invested almost exclusively in
by Ajaya, 1983, p. 84). This tendency of con left-lobe processes in education, politics, econ
cretization, reification and reductionism is itself omics and religion (Lawlor, 1990; Ferguson,
a product of the unbalanced Masculine orienta 1980). Until this century, science was the leader
tion of the West, including the European in reflecting and reproducing the unbalanced
culture in which Freud was socialized. Universal Masculine perspective. Modem
Ricoeur ( 1964, p. 239) expresses the damag science was preceded and accompanied by a
ing effects resulting from the concretization development of philosophical thought which
and reduction of myths, and the analytic led to an extreme formulation of a dualism
separation of the world into non-interacting between spirit and matter. In the seventeenth
dualities such as that of good and evil: century Descartes articulated a philosophy
based on a fundamental division between two
The harm that has been done to souls, during the
separate and independent realms - that of
centuries of Christianity, just by the literal interpreta
tion of the story of Adam, and then by the confusion of mind (res cogitans) and that of matter (res
this myth, treated as history, with later speculations, extensa). This Cartesian division allowed
principally Augustinian, about original sin, will never be scientists to treat matter as "dead" and com
adequately told (quoted by Fox, 1983, p. 51 ). pletely separate from themselves, and to see the
material world as like a huge machine consist
ing of a multitude of different and independent
THE UNNERSAL MASCULINE (YANG) AND objects. Newton articulated the mechanistic
UNNERSAL FEMININE (YIN ) IN SCIENCE worldview and it became the basis of classical
physics, which because of its empirical success
Modern science and psychology has dis and because it legitimated and reproduced the
covered that the human brain is divided into unbalanced Masculine worldview, came to be
left and right hemispheres providing a physio considered a model for all the disciplines. From
logical correspondence with the age-old no this viewpoint, the world was a mass of
tions of the Universal Masculine and Feminine. "objects" external to the observer, linear,
The left cerebral hemisphere controls most of divisible, logical and it could be penetrated and
the body's right side motor and neuromuscular subjugated by reason (Rorty, 1980, 1983;
functions, and the right cerebral hemisphere Prigogine & Stengers, 1985; Capra, 1983a, b).
controls the left side of the body. The left The age-old intuition that Mother Nature is
hemisphere "is predominantly involved with the archetypal embodiment of the Universal
analytic, logical thinking, especially in verbal Feminine, in that she is the giver and nurturer
and mathematical functions" (Ornstein, 1973, of life (see Cirlot, 1971; Chetwynd, 1982) was
p. 52 ). This is the '"masculine' side . . . having known, but the reductionism and aggressive
ness of the unbalanced Masculine orientation
 FILLING THE NEGATIVE SPACE 323

reduced this intuition to the hard physicality created largely relied upon the controlling of
and materiality of gender: Nature was a female the senses and feelings/passions by commerce.
body, to be penetrated, with reason and Foucault ( 1971) describes the birth of the
scientific instruments, subdued, and used as a category "madness" or "un-reason" and its use
resource, as the following quote of Francis to categorize and discipline, all those who
Bacon written in 1623 to James I indicates: refused or were unable to repress all but their
reason.
For you have but to follow and as it were hound nature This aggressiveness of reason, unbalanced by
in her wanderings, and you will be able when you like to
love for nature, or intuitions about the inter
lead and drive her afterward to the same place again . ..
Neither ought a man to make scruple of entering and connectedness of nature, has resulted now in
penetrating into these holes and corners, when the catastrophic destruction of nature:
inquisition of truth is his whole object - as your
Majesty has shown in your own example (Bacon, 1870, Ozone depletion, carbon dioxide buildup, chlorofluro·
quoted by Merchant, 1983, p. 168). carbon emissions, and acid rain upset the respiration
and clog the pores and lungs of the ancient Earth Mother
Merchant (1983, pp. 164-190) shows the . . . Toxic wastes, pesticides, and herbicides seep into
ground water, marshes, bays, and oceans, polluting Gaia's
influence of the witch trials which were taking
circulatory system. Tropical rainforests and northern
place all over Europe in the early seventeenth old-growth forests disappear at alarming rates as lum
century, on Bacon's imagery, philosophy and berers shear Gaia of her tresses (Merchant, 1983, p. xv
language. Bacon frequently describes matter or ).
nature as a "common harlot" whose passions
are to be feared and thus should be disciplined Capra ( 1983a, pp. 28-29) describes the
and exorcized: "matter is not devoid of an extreme and alienating influence of Descartes'
appetite and inclination to dissolve the world philosophy. Descartes' famous
and fall back into the old Chaos" (Bacon, 1870, pronouncement "Cogito ergo sum" -I
p. 320, quoted by Merchant, 1983, p. 171). think, therefore I exist
In the Masculine Birth of Time, Bacon -has led Westerners to equate their identity
(quoted by Merchant, 1983, p. 169) explains with their mind, instead of their whole organism
how the new man of science must not think and senses and non-reasoning potentials such as
that the "inquisition of nature is in any part feelings/passions and intuitive, holistic ways of
interdicted or forbidden". Nature must be knowing. Identified thus with their mind only
"bound into service" and made "slave", put "in or primarily, most individuals are aware of
constraint" and "molded" by the mechanical themselves as isolated egos existing "inside"
arts. The "searchers and spies of nature" are to their bodies, independently and separately from
discover her plots, secrets and crevices. other people and the world:
Lawlor (1990, p. 75) estimates that the
European witch trials, lasting for a four hundred The mind has been separated from the body and given
the futile task of controlling it, thus causing an apparent
year period and coming to an end in the
conflict between the conscious will and the involuntary
eighteenth century, saw over four million instincts. Each individual has been split up further into a
women in Europe tortured and put to death for large number of separate compartments, according to
witchcraft. He suggests that these hunts "began his or her actvitics, talents, feelings, beliefs, etc. which
within the psyche of the male" (p. 75) due to are engaged in endless conflicts generating continuous
metaphysical confusion and frustration.
the emphasis on the Masculine realm of the
intellect and reason, and the denial, repression This inner fragmentation mirrors our view of the
and consequent fear of the sensuality and world "outside" which is seen as a multitude of separate
passions of the Feminine. Hirschman ( 1977) objects and events. The natural environment is treated
elaborates how the arguments for Capitalism as if it consisted of separate parts to be exploited by
different interest groups. The fragmented view is further
and the legitimacy for Capitalism that they
extended to society which is split into different nations,
races, religious and political groups (Capra, l983a,
p. 29).
324 RUTH D. HINES

This century, however, in the face of increas which can be adequately modelled by linear
ing contradictions and anomalies within the differential equations (Merchant, 1983).
Masculine or Yang scientific view, science Capra (1983b, pp. 285-332) describes the
has moved in the direction of the Universal emergent systems view of life, a "new
Feminine or Yin and a holistic worldview vision of reality" which is growing out of
similar to the Eastern, Jewish and Christian biology, physics and chemistry, and which
mystical traditions (Capra, 1983a; Merchant, is reflecting and increasing an awareness of
1983, pp. xvi-xviii; Prigogine & Stengers, the essential interrelatedness and
1985, pp. 292-293; Houston, 1987, pp. 15-19; interdependence of all phenomena -
Ferguson, 1980; Fox, 1983, 1989). The physical, spiritual, biological, psychological,
explora tion of the subatomic world has social and cultural. This holistic view
revealed a "reality" which repeatedly transcends current disciplinary and con
transcends language and reasoning, and the ceptual boundaries and is being shaped by
unification of concepts which had hitherto many individuals, communities and networks
seemed opposites and ir reconcilable, typifies that are developing new ways of thinking
these explorations. Exam ples of the and organizing themselves according to new
unification of dualities in modern subatomic prin ciples (see also Ferguson, 1980;
physics include that particles are now seen as Prigogine & Stengers, 1985).
both destructible and indestructible, matter as
both continuous and discontinuous, and force It is fascinating to see that twentieth century science,
and matter as both different aspects of the same which originated in the Cartesian split and in the
phenomenon. Space and time are two concepts mechanistic worldview, now overcomes this fragmenta·
which had seemed entirely different but have tion and leads back to the idea of unity expressed in the
early Greek and Eastern philosophies (Capra, l 983a,
been unified in relativistic physics. Particles
p. 28).
such as electrons have been found to behave
like waves, while waves such as light waves The various schools of Eastern, Hebrew and
behave like particles, depending on the Christian mysticism differ, but they all embrace
interdependent observer and experimental the basic unity of the universe, which is the
context. Context dependence, the relatedness central feature of their teachings. The highest
of the observer to the observed, which is aim is to become aware of the unity and mutual
antithetical to mechanism and is part of the interrelation of all things, to transcend the
Feminine holistic world view, is a fundamental notion of an isolated individual self and to
characteristic of matter (Capra 1983a). The identify with the ultimate reality and see that
new thermodynamics of Prigogine (Prigogine "one is all, and all is one" (Ajaya, 1983; Capra,
& Stengers, 1985) has replaced the closed and 1983a; May, 1987; May, 1988; Wilber, 1985).
isolated systems (such as steam engines) view In
of classical physics with a thermodynamic this "enlightened" consciousness, the cosmos is
view in which higher levels of organization seen as "one inseparable reality -for ever in
can spontaneously emerge out of disorder, a motion, alive, organic; spiritual and material at
view inconsistent with the mechanistic non the same time" (Capra, 1983a, p. 29). Houston
interactive and linear view of change. (1987, p. 17), like Bateson (1979), Capra
The recent emergence of chaos theory in ( 1983a, b) and Ferguson ( 1980), suggests that
mathematics suggests that deterministic linear, "with the premises of higher physics being
predictive equations, which form the basis of consonant with the knowledge of deeper
mechanism, may apply to unusual rather than mysticism, a new rapprochment is occurring
usual situations. Most environmental and bio between science and the sacred". She suggests
logical systems, and ecological patterns, are (p. 17) that Eros or the Universal Feminine is
coming to be seen as governed by complex re-emerging to balance the Universal Masculine
nonlinear relationships rather than patterns or Logos, "at a time when the breakdown of the
old story leaves us desperate for love, for
 FILLING THE NEGATIVE SPACE
325

security, for protection, for meaning. It leaves dominant values and conceptions, for both men
us yearning for a nurturing and cultivation of and women, are: minding the quality of life and
our whole being, that we might be adequate the preservation of the environment; helping
stewards of the planetary culture". others, in particular the weak and unfortunate;
"small and slow" are beautiful; putting relation
ships with people before money and things; the
THE UNIVERSAL FEMININE (YIN) AND valuing of intuition over reason and decisive
UNIVERSAL MASCULINE (YANG) IN argument; an interdependence rather than
RELATION TO CULTURE independence ideal; men need not be assertive
but can also take caring roles; sex roles in
Subsequently in this paper, it will be shown society should be fluid, and differences in sex
that alternative research in accounting to roles should not mean differences in power
mainstream research may be seen as a part of (Hofstede, 1984, p. 205, 1983, p. 85). Accord ing
the re-emergence of the Universal Feminine or to this classification, "Masculine" countries
Eros; however, this section will briefly sum include the entire cluster of Anglo countries and
marize some literature which has utilized German-speaking countries of Germany, Austria
the concept of the Universal Feminine and and Switzerland, and "Feminine" countries
Masculine in relation to culture. include Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and
Reference has already been made to Choud the Netherlands (Hofstede, 1984, 1983).
hury ( 1988) and his investigation of the Yin Hofstede ( 1984, p. 209) suggests that in
"is not", or absence, of accounting, in contrast more Masculine countries, women's liberation
to the usual emphasis on the Yang "is", or movements tend to be more aggressive and the
presence, of accounting. Probably the most ideal of women's liberation is that women can
commonly used operational model of culture be as assertive as men, "women try to beat men
used in accounting research is that of Hofstede at their game", whereas in more Feminine
(1983, 1984). (See, for example, Soeters & countries, women's liberation movements tend
Schreuder, 1988.) Hofstede ( 1984) classifies to defend the reform of the entire society along
cultures as Masculine or Feminine depend ing the "Feminine" lines.
upon their value orientation. "Masculine" Although Japanese culture has been highly
cultures are those which have maximum sex influenced by Mahayana and Zen Buddhism and
role division; have a materialist "money and Taoist philosophy, many aspects of Japanese
things" orientation; value performance and society and culture today reflect an embracing
growth over quality of life and environment; of the Western highly Masculine or Yang value
live to work rather than work to live; have an orientation. Hofstede ( 1983, 1984) categorizes
achievement rather than service or caring ideal; Japan as the most Masculine country in his
strive for performance and achieving something study, and refers to Japan's enormous pollution
visible, and showing off; have an independence levels ( 1984, p. 209). However, whilst post
rather than an interdependence ideal; empha war economic reconstruction and adoption
size decisiveness and not intuition; see "big and of Western aggressive industrialization and
fast" as beautiful rather than "small and slow" materialism means that Japan now has a strong
as beautiful, and have a machismo Masculine or Yang orientation, many Eastern
("ostentative manliness") ideal and an ideal that Feminine or Yin aspects of Japanese society are
men should dominate in all settings (Hofstede, also evident. For example, whilst Hofstede
1984, p. 205, 1983, p. 85). "In Masculine ( 1984, p. 209) suggests a direct relationship
societies, the traditional masculine social between the strength of the Masculinity norm
values permeate the whole society -even the and the tendency to resolve industrial relations
way of thinking of the women" (Hofstede, by open conflict, comparing British strikes with
1983, p. 85). Swedish dialogue, McKinnon ( 1986, pp. 90-91
In the more "Feminine" societies, the )
326 RUTH D. HINES

points out that the Japanese seek to preserve linguistic curiosity reflects . . . a tendency of
harmony in their interpersonal decision- the culture to acknowledge the ambivalence
making processes through an emphasis on experienced when mastery of situations is im
participa tion, consultation and genuine perfect. Faced with difficult trade-offs, Japanese
reconciliation through an avoidance of direct 'choose' one over the other; Westerners like to
confrontation. McKinnon ( 1986, p. 91) think they decide" (Pascale, 1978, p. 1SS ).
quotes Reischauer ( 1977, p. 226) as stating Thus Japan reflects much of the Universal
that in their pursuit of harmony, the Japanese Feminine or Yin, as well as the materialistic
lean "more towards subtlety and sensitivity productivity of the Universal Masculine. Indeed
than to clarity of analysis, to intuition rather Japanese materialist "success" is largely attribut
than to reason, to pragmatism rather than able to its harnessing of the Yin human
theory, and to organiza tional skills rather potential, in its embracing and rapid achieving
than great intellectual con cepts . . . they of Western goals (see, for example, Hariman,
have never set great store by clarity of 1990). But, the "hard" Masculine quickly
verbal analysis and originality of thought". destroys the "soft" Feminine, as is seen in
She points out that this emphasis on harmony the decimation of "primitive" (the Western
in interpersonal relationships stems from the pejorative word for "soft" Feminine societies)
idea of the "yang and yin; that is, from the cultures and economies, when penetrated by,
idea of complementary forces (lightness and or embracing, a Masculine cultural orientation.
darkness) which alternate with and balance Thus a rapid adoption of Yang values, as in the
each other .. . [which] allows no strict 'good case of Japan, is unlikely to result in a balancing
bad' dichotomy" (McKinnon, 1986, p. 90) and integration of the old Yin values, but rather
(see also McKinnon & Harrison, 198S; their decimation.
Hariman, 1990). Whilst Hofstede ( 1983, 1984) categorizes
Pascale ( 1978, p. 1SS) points out that the the four Nordic countries and the Netherlands
Japanese do not have a word for "empty" but as the most Feminine cultures, this should be
say a space is "full of nothing", reflecting their seen as relative to the sample of SO countries in
acceptance of the reality and essentiality of his study. The study did not include extremely
the is-not or nothingness. He explains how Feminine cultures such as, for example, those
Japanese executives operate within the "empty" of Australian Aborigines, American Indians,
space of business problems, allowing ambiguity Malaysian Senoi and some African cultures.
as a "shroud of the unknown" surrounding Within these cultures, there is no duality
certain events, and compares this to American experienced between mind and body, or matter
business practices which focus on objects and and spirit. The individual experiences themself
objectives. For example, if merging two depart as at one with the land, which is seen as an
ments appears desirable, American executives incarnation of spirit; time is cyclic and circular,
"make an announcement" thus naming and ob turning and returning, as the alternation of
jectifying the new situation. However, Japanese night and day, winter and summer, death and
executives quietly shift into the "negative birth; unity and permanence is perceived in
spaces" of the situation, informally merging change; Eros -relating, nurturing and caring
procedures, increasing the flow of information -for the intertwined person, spirit, landscape,
across the boundaries, leaving the situation is the focus of society; and logic, reason, linear
ambiguous until the employees involved become progress, history, and material productivity and
accustomed to the new composition. Only after efficiency play little role; reality is reflected and
they have grown used to the change is the reproduced in symbols, myths and rituals,
situation formally recognized and announced in orally conveyed rather than objectified and
the Masculine or Yang sense (Pascale, 1978). concretized in written records, and most know
Additionally, the Japanese do not have a term ing that the individual needs, arises intuitively
for decision-making in the Western sense: "this
 FIWNG THE NEGATIVE SPACE
327

through myth, ritual, oral teaching, contempla TABLE 1. Symbols, qualities and attributes of the Universal
tion and dreaming (Castaneda, 1970, 197la, b, Masculine (Yang) and Universal Feminine (Yin)
1974, 1976, 1982; Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck, Universal Masculine (Yang) Universal Feminine (Yin)
1973; Garfield, 1976; Faraday, 1974, pp. 3-7; Light Dark
Jung, 1964, 1983). Sun Moon
Figure 1 illustrates the usual way in which Air Earth
Yin and Yang are depicted: Day Night
Mountain Cave
Desert Sea
A Chinese symbol of the dual distribution of forces, Consciousness Unconsciousness
comprising the active or masculine principle (Yang) Sword Chalice
and the passive or feminine principle (Yin). It takes the Phallus Vagina
form of a circle bisected by a sigmoid line, and the two Full Empty
parts so formed are invested with a dynamic tendency Exterior Interior
which would be wanting if the division were by a Dry Moist
diameter. The light half represents the Yang force Hard Soft
and the dark half denotes Yin; however, each half Straight Curved
includes an arc cut out of the middle of the opposing Explicit Tacit
half [and a circle including the polar "opposite") Focused Diffuse
to symbolize that every mode must contain within it Productive Receptive
the germ of its antithesis . . . The Yang-Yin is a Action Stillness, silence
helicoidal symbol, that is, it is a section of the Creative action Contemplation, meditation
universal whirlwind which brings opposites together Doing Being
and engenders perpetual motion, metamorphosis and Reason, argument Experience
continuity in situations characterized by contradiction Logic Intuition
. . . The vertical axis through the centre of the Yang-Yin Left brain Right brain
constitutes the "unvarying mean" or, in other words, Logos, Eros, relating
the mystic "Centre" where there is no rotation, no ideating
Impersonal, objective Personal, feeling
restlessness, no impulse, nor any suffering of any kind. It Analytic Gestalt
corresponds to the central zone of the Wheel of Dualistic Holistic
Transformations in Hindu symbolism, and the centre or Quantitative Qualitative
the way out of the labyrinth in Egyptian and western Linear Nonlinear
symbolism. It is also expressive of the two counter· Linear time, history Circular time, timelessness
balancing tendencies of evolution and involution Sequential Simultaneous
(Circlot, 1971, p. 380). Cause-effect Synchronicity
Progress, perfection Integration
Standardization Proliferation
Material provision Nurturing
Providing Caring

Source: Cain, 1990; Capra, 1983a; Chetwynd, 1982; Cirlot,

1971; Johnson, 1977a, b; Jung, 1964, 1968; Lawlor, 1990;
Ornstein, 1973; Watts, 1979.

ACCOUNTING: FILLING THE

NEGATIVE SPACE
Fig. I. The symbol of Yin-Yang.
In art, the spaces around objects are called
"negative spaces" (Edwards, 1979, 1988). A
Table 1 summarizes the most common drawing, painting or sculpture will not resonate
symbols and attributes of the Universal Mas beauty, truth or integrity, or work as a unified
culine or Yang, and Universal Feminine or whole, unless the objects are balanced with
Yin. negative spaces. In poetry, literature and music,
328 RUTH D. HINES

negative spaces -pauses, punctuations, rests, Measurements can be made of their "size" (e.g.
breaths and silences - balance the gross assets, net assets, turnover), "stability"
composi tion and are an integral part of the (e.g. debt to equity number), "health" (e.g.
creation. In nature, day is balanced by night, capital plus net profit), "growth" (e.g. net profit,
summer by winter, and birth by death. The or the extent to which capital is "bigger" at the
negative space is the Feminine, the is-not, the end of one period than it was at the beginning,
contemplative silence in which intuitive after adjustments for capital injections and
knowledge and subjective felt knowing arise withdrawals) and their "yield" (e.g. dividends to
from within; the dark, moist earth in which profit, or net assets). "Real things and events
life spontaneously germinates and is nurtured. that affect a dynamic and complex business
In the unbalanced Masculine culture, the enterprise are represented in the financial
very term "negative" is a perjorative term, statements by words and numbers, which are
because of the repression and consequent . . . symbols of the real thing" (FASB, 1984,
unconscious fear (Lawlor, 1990) surrounding par. 21). The financial statements are like a
the realm of the Universal Feminine and all that "model", which is "no more than a
is born from the Feminine is-not. In our representation of certain aspects of the real
unbalanced Masculine society which, having world" (FASB, 1980a, par. 76 and footnote
penetrated and decimated softer Feminine 10) (see Hines, 1988,
cultures, is now almost planetary-wide, there 1991).
is no word which is not a pejorative term, for Accounting reports are a "full" picture of an
the Feminine: "empty", "passive", "receptive", entity's hard reality: "freedom from bias, both in
"non-doing", "still", "silent'', "soft", are all the measurer and the measurement method,
"negatives", in the unbalanced Masculine sense. implies that nothing material is left out" (FASB,
For this reason, the artistic term "negative 1980a, par. 79). The only problems which arise
space" is used here, for the Feminine or Yin in quantitatively measuring these concrete
space, which barely arises, because of the entities are the problems which attach to any
filling of all space with the incessant speaking measurement task, for example, error, distor
of the language of accounting, and the con tion, approximation, losing things, differences
sequences of its idolization. The present world of opinion and lack of experience (FASB, 1980a,
order, and the lived experience of most people b). The job of the accountant is to work out
in it, · is substantially influenced by the con whether "elements" (FASB, 1980b) of a business
cepts and consequences of accounting: manage enterprise have become real-ized, and if they
ment accounting, financial accounting, national have, to "recognize" that and then measure them.
and government accounting, and international The numbers so derived can be added and
accounting. The language of accounting is the subtracted, as in the Income Statement and
arch-communicator and social constructor of Balance Sheet; in fact this is necessary in order
unbalanced Yang consciousness, society and to calculate whether the entity is "bigger" or
environment. As this section will elucidate, it is "smaller" than it was previously and by how
hard, dry, impersonal, objective, explicit, outer much. "Financial Statements involve adding,
focused, action-oriented, analytic, dualistic, subtracting, multiplying and dividing numbers
quantitative, linear, rationalist, reductionist and depicting economic things and events" (FASB,
materialist. 1978, par. 18).
From the viewpoint of accounting practice The same principles can be applied in
there is a "hard" world "out there". There is working out how big or small a "government"
an "economy" in society, and in that "economy" is, for example, by adding and subtracting all its
there are discrete and bounded "entities" which "in" comings and "out" goings to calculate, say,
are quantifiable, inasmuch as accounting prac a Gross Surplus or Deficit. A "nation" can be
tices can "measure" them, in hard numbers. measured the same way, through a number like
Gross National Product. Since this hard reality
 FILLING THE NEGATIVE SPACE 329

is divisible, and independent "parts" of it can can be differentiated from object: the account
be recognized, they can be separately ing measurer must inject no subjectivity into
measured, such as different "sectors" in the their accounting measures - they must not
"economy", different "departments" in the confuse their existence, thoughts or expecta
"government" or different "divisions" in an tions, with the entity they are measuring,
"entity". because entities exist concretely and inde
This involves no subjectivity. The whole pendently of both those who measure them and
process is seemingly objective, because the their measurement concepts, instruments and
objects exist externally to the person measuring practices. This means that accounting informa
them: "accrual accounting provides measures tion can "provide evenhanded, neutral . . .
. . . rather than evaluations" (FASB, 1978, p. unbiased information" (FASB, 1978, par. 33).
48). The accountant simply has to focus on the Not only are employees, creditors, the
realized objects, which are "owned" by the environ ment and the "rest" of "society"
entity, and which can be financially quantified, seen to be different from, and "outside" the
being alert not to become distracted by other boundary of the entity, but also the owners
things which are around but "outside" them. are seen to be separate from the entity. This
Externalities, such as pollution, chemical enables the accountant to separate the private
poison ing, consumption of non-renewable affairs of the owner and those of the business.
objects, pri mary products dumping in a world For example, payments by the owner from an
of starva tion, exporting of profitable but toxic entity's bank account for personal items such
products to unregulated Third World as living expenses or entertainment are
countries, threats to world peace, or any recognized as a personal withdrawal and not
forms of suffering inflicted on people through an expense. It is the "viewpoint" of the
the quest for profit, are not considered in entity, rather than any people associated
accounting, because these are subjective, with the entity, that is adopted for
"soft" and unmeasurable, and they are accounting purposes.
essentially separate from the "entity" and, A distinction can even be made between
therefore, can be clearly distinguished from concepts and practices. In relation to the
the entity itself. Shareholders, creditors and recognition and measurement problems sur
directors need not feel any responsibility for rounding "goodwill'', the FASB ( 1980a, par.
these factors, because the beauty of net profit 63-
and other financial statement items is that they 64) explains that if a financial statement reader
exclude feelings, and are confined to hard is familiar with accounting practice, then they
measures. These measures can be inde will understand the concept of "goodwill'', and
pendently verified, using accounting concepts if not, then they probably will not be able to
and reason, thus further verifying that nothing make sense of the concept.
important is missing from them. Furthermore, The ultimate machismo power for those who
financial statements include only items which adopt the accounting "way of seeing" is
have a market value in the present, or at least conferral of the ability to see and create
have had such a value which has been paid or ultimate distinctions. The Excalibur of
committed to be paid by the entity, in the linear accounting know ledge empowers its bearer to
past, and is likely to be "real-ized" in the cut the Real from the False: "the moral is that
"future". Thus the objectivity and fairness of in seeking com parability accountants must not
accounting is ensured, because markets are disguise real differences nor create false
objective and impersonal. differences" (FASB, 1980a, par. 119).
The world, through the penetrating gaze Thus accounting practices aid and reflect the
of the accounting eye, and the razor-sharp "activity" of organizations. Accounting communi
sword of accounting reason, can be cut up, cates how "productive" and "efficient" an entity
into dualities. Inner and subjective can be has been during a period. The ideal is to
distinguished from outer and objective. Subject maximize economic activity, productivity and
efficiency,
330 RUTH D. HINES

as measured by market values. Here, "produc exist, in circular or cyclical time. This would
tivity" refers only to production of the material mean there could be no "progress". But the
-hard cash -not the production of psychic, accountant sees an entity as having a "past"
emotional or any form of inner subjective, soft, "history", and continuing "into" a "future"; thus
wealth. "An asset . . . embodies a probable the entity can "progress". Linear time is essential
future benefit that involves a capacity, singly or for "progress", because the accounting concept
in combination with other assets, to contribute of "growth" (profit) and "contraction" (loss)
directly or indirectly to future net cash inflows" involves comparing the "size" of the entity in
(FASB, 1980b, par. 20). the "present" with its "size" in the "past".
The "time" which accounting creates and fills Linear time also enables "forecasts" of
is linear and divisible. Time is cut up into "future" possibilities for the entity. Forecasts
accounting "periods", and standardization of are imag inary, and hence are inner, soft and
accounting practice is important so that there subjective, but the quantification of expectations
can be meaningful comparisons of the "sizes", penetrates this softness, and concretizes or
"growth", "yields" and so on, of different object-ifies them, enabling them to be treated as
entities, for the "same period". "hard" and "out there". So, for example, "future"
Time consists of "past", "present" and "perform ance" of the entity can be imagined,
"future", which exist side by side in a "line", and then when quantified it can be taken
which runs from the "past", through the seriously as "real". This process is an important
"present", and into the "future". Even though the one for "progress" and for the control and
"past" is a memory, and the "future" an disciplining of people, without which,
expectation, that is, they are both inner, soft "progress" is unlikely to take place. For
and subjective, this seems not to be the case, example, "within" the entity, through the
because most people including accountants process of budgeting, this objectifica tion of
and accounting information users, have this imagination highly motivates people, because
same experience of "time". Being if, when the "future" actually happens, there
interpersonally comparable, this conception of turns out to be a difference between the
"time" is taken to be a concrete reality "out imagined "growth" and the "real", then the
there". cause of this is identified, and the people
Since the "future" exists, it is necessary to responsible for "causing" it can be punished, or
make an assumption about whether an entity will rewarded.
continue "into" it, or not. A fundamental This same objectification of imagination
assump tion of accounting is the "continuity" "causes" many and various "effects" on people,
assumption. This assumption usually enables entities, governments and nations. Crucial
the accountant to measure the entity on the decisions around the world are made on the
basis that what it paid or committed to pay basis of "expected" accounting information, as
in the "past", for "elements" which can be well as, of course, "actual" or "real" accounting
turned into cash or used to create "growth" in information.
the "future", can be recognized and measured Finally, accounting practice is objective and
in the financial state ments. Linear impersonal in the dividing up and distributing
divisible time enables the of parts or all of entities. Payments and
"elements" of the entity to be cut up and distributions of entities are made on the basis of
"matched" with separate bits of time over the enforceable, legal claims. The "economy",
length of the line of time, for example, in depre which consists of economic entities, does not
ciation, amortization and overhead allocations. survive and "grow", in accounting terms, by
Linear, divisible time is crucial to accounting nurturing and caring for people, animals and the
practice, because without this kind of time, environ ment, and so it would not be "rational"
there could be no "progress". Entities could be or "reason-able" to make distributions based on
seen to simply exist, in an ever-present "now", needs.
or they could be seen as existing and ceasing to
 FILLING THE NEGATIVE SPACE
331

MAINSTREAM ACCOUNTING RESEARCH: the accounting profession and capital markets,

COMPLETELY FILLING THE NEGATIVE is objective, fully knowable and fully
SPACE AND CONCRETING IT knowing, and exhibits constant relationships,
the "future" can be predicted, enabling
Mainstream financial and management control and man ipulation of people,
accounting research investigates the hard "what organizations and the "economy". An
is" that is "out there". The "economy" exists objective of mainstream research is to provide
within society but is separate from the social this objective and impersonal knowledge, as
and ecological fabric, and hence accounting an aid to others, such as business entities,
researchers can adopt a hard focus on economic accounting standard setting boards, the
phenomena in isolation from the "surrounding" accounting profession, governments and so
society and environment. The "hardness" of on, for technically controlling the present and
reality enables the slicing of it into "variables" the future (Chua, 1986a; Hines, 1989a;
which, when proper methodological "controls" Neimark & Tinker, 1986; Tinker, 1988).
are implemented, cut out the surrounding From the mainstream perspective economic
complexity of reality. reality is seen to be stable and orderly, and
The identification of "variables" that are "natural" in that it "just happens". What
"inde pendent" and drive variables that are happens, is not seen as the product of power
"depend ent", enables conclusions of "cause" relations, and conflict is seen as an un-natural or
and "effect" and ascertainment of "universal "dysfunc tional" state of affairs, which
laws". Thus reality is external to the observer, accounting know ledge can help to address and
hard and material, reducible to numbers, and eliminate. Capital markets, for example, are
works in a linear, non-interactive way, rather seen as natural, inevitable and completely
than in a bidirectional and interactive way. impersonal. The impersonal "forces" which
Therefore, essentially the only language markets contain, represent an ideal to
necessary todescribe this reality is mainstream researchers, of "efficient" financial
mathematics, especially statistics and functioning, objectivity and impartiality, and
econometrics (Chua, 1986a; Hines, 1989b; much mainstream research is oriented to
Neimark & Tinker, 1986; Tinker, 1988). defending this view and providing support for
From the mainstream accounting research those whose material and ideo logical interests
perspective, "time" is linear, but "future" time coincide with non-regulation of markets.
is much "harder" than from the everyday Empty spaces that occur in the observational
commonsense perspective. This combines with domain, such as the collapse of corporations,
"perfect knowledge" of reality, leaving are not noticed in mainstream research, because
absolutely no negative spaces. For example, the focus is on aggregates, to enable generaliza
there is a "perfect market" for managers. It is tion. Aggregation requires the maintenance of
all-seeing and all-knowing. It penetrates distance from what is being observed, and the
everything, even the "future". Thus managers' reduction of reality to numbers. Actual involve
utility functions may be discerned (even ment, such as participant observation, blurs the
though they are inner and subjective) and full sharp focus with a haze of complexity and
marginal adjustment is made by all parties. 2 mystery. Thus complete separation from the
Since reality, such as managers, phenomenon being studied is seen as the ideal
organizations,

2 "An individual (whether a shareholder, non-managing director or politician) will adjust a firm's accounting numbers for a

change in accounting standards up to the point that the marginal cost of malting the adjustment equals the marginal
benefits" (Watts & Zimmerman, 1978, p. 116). "Bondholders and shareholders anticipate the manager's behavior and
appropriately discount the price of the bonds or shares at the time of issue" (Watts & Zimmerman, 1979, p. 276). "If
these directors do not adjust the plans, management compensation rises and share price falls by the full discounted
present value of the additional compensation" (Watts & Zimmerman, 1978, p. 116).
332 RUTH D. HINES

method of learning about it, to enable total accounting research. Researchers have not
objectivity and aggregation of enough data to changed their approach. Referees and editors
draw out generalizable inferences. of journals have not asked researchers to
From "outside" the mainstream perspective, alter their methodology" (Watts &
it can be seen that the human suffering involved Zimmerman, 1990, p. 149).
in corporate collapses is largely a result of non Mainstream researchers see and maintain
disclosure of information to capital markets. As very clear boundaries around themselves, as
corporations erode capital through undisclosed separate objective observers, and around the
losses, they issue further debt and capital, objects of their study. From the heights of the
which when lost by people and entities is a mainstream research look-out, one does not see
source of suffering. However, this is of no the empty spaces that have been left in the
concern to mainstream accounting researchers concrete reality of people, species, cultures,
for a number of reasons. Firstly, they see and the Earth, by the operation of capital
"competing sources of information" to account markets. If a closer look is taken, and the empty
ing information coming into the market. (But space observed, it can be filled, with a rational
because there is no study of the inner, soft, ist logic which argues that the slaying of these
unmeasurable processes of social agents, it is unfit, inefficient aspects of reality proves how
not seen that there is an asymmetry in the efficient and impersonal markets are, and how
information being made publicly available to they strengthen reality by eliminating the
capital markets: people do not like to disclose "failures".
"bad" information, due to the adverse con In the mainstream worldview, people are not
sequences of doing so which constitute a sentient constructors and changers of the social
positive disincentive to disclosing "bad" infor reality which surrounds them, but rather passive
mation, in the absence of regulation to do so.) objects observed by the researcher, entities
Additionally, the all-seeing, all-knowing
that possess certain "characteristics" such as
"perfect" market for managers would know if a
certain leadership and budgetary styles, or they
corporate manager seriously shirked telling the
may be characterized as being information
truth, and discount the value of him, and his
processing mechanisms (Chua, l986a, pp. 606,
corporation. But, more importantly, issues 611).
concerning cor porate collapses do not concern
Mainstream management and financial
mainstream accounting researchers because it
accounting research sees people as essentially
is "soft" and would draw them into feeling for
the same and standardized, that is, as goal
victims of cor porate collapses, and
setters who "maximize utility" relying on their
empathetically experienc ing their suffering and
reason. They are materialistic, opportunistic
loss, and thus losing their objectivity.
and greedy and act unreservedly in their own
Furthermore, the Social Darwinism that
narrowly defined self-interest with, if necessary,
underlies mainstream research -survival of
guile and deceit (Noreen, 1988). Their oppor
the "fittest" corporations and people -means
tunism includes shirking and stealing (Watts &
that it is only corporations that are ''weak" in
Zimmerman, 1986, p. 185). In a world where
some sense which do not survive, and so,
nobody can be trusted, everything has to be
despite the unfortunate consequences, it is
contracted, implicitly or explicitly, and so a
rational and therefore desirable that they should
major focus of mainstream research is contracts.
collapse. Non-survival is a hard fact of nature
What goes on "inside" people is soft, sub
and mainstream researchers are tough enough
jective, unobservable and personal, and is not
to live with that fact. They even subject their
the concern of mainstream accounting research.
research to this machismo test, as an ultimate This is especially so with respect to the interior
arbiter of worth: "the methodological criticisms experience of the researcher. They must main
[of positive theory] have failed the market test tain a strict subject--0bject distinction and this
because they have had little influence on
 FILLING THE NEGATIVE SPACE
333

is most achievable via empiricism. Once one Masculine or Yang. Despite an ideal of
moves from observations of the outside object separation from society, mainstream re
world, into subject-ive ontological reflection, searchers, by instilling their views into
epistemological contemplation or deep critical students, colleagues and institutions, and
questioning about what one is doing, one has promulgating and defending their views in
failed to achieve the ideals of mainstream society, do change society. They move the
research. world further in the direction in which they
Mainstream research is extremely hard, dur see it as now being - like Lot's wife,
able and unchanging, because of the system of
changed to stone. 3
controls, and inner ideals of researchers,
which mitigate against any substantial
criticism or change. "Fine tuning of the
ALTERNATIVE ACCOUNTING RESEARCH:
machine" is en couraged, such as adjusting
CREATING THE NEGATIVE SPACE
the nuts and bolts of the statistics, the
measurement "instruments", the observation
The potential named the "Universal
procedures, the quality of the data, and so on,
Feminine" or "Yin" in this paper, is inherent
and so there is abundant replication.
in all exist ence, and cannot be permanently
However, there is no fundamental questioning
repressed and denied. Within all the
of the mainstream worldview from within it.
disciplines there is currently occurring a
Mainstream journals, such as The painful "dying to" and "letting go" of the un-
Accounting Review and thejournal of balanced Yang vision of the world, which has
Account ing Research do not publish progressively and accel eratingly filled all
critique papers, unless they include either space - thought, ways of seeing,
solutions to the problems they raise, or a relationships, decisions, choices and
"new and better theory", so that the empty behaviour. Nowhere have the energies of the
space created by such a critique paper can Feminine or Yin been more repressed than in
be instantaneously and efficiently filled. The accounting practice and discourse, and main
"market test" (i.e. the extent of the influence stream accounting research. Now, however,
on accounting research, Watts & Zimmerman, like many others in many disciplines and walks
1990, p. 149), of the worth of research, in of life, many accounting researchers are allow
this regulated market for accounting research, ing the energies of the Feminine, repressed in
ensures that mainstream researchers are the unconsciousness by a culture which denies
confirmed in their worldview by an absence any stirrings of the Universal Feminine, to rise
of publications which might soften or change to consciousness and be real-ized.
their hard paradigm. These researchers are not afraid of, but seek,
Accounting discourse and accounting prac the dark: the is-not (Choudhury, 1988), the
tice reproduces, reifies and legitimizes the silence (Arrington & Francis, 1989), the dif
everyday or common-sense worldview (Hines, ference (Shearer & Arrington, forthcoming),
1988, 1989a, b, 1991). The dominant, the inner, soft and subjective (Boland, 1989;
planetary, common-sense worldview has been Hoskin & Macve, 1986, 1988; Knights &
described as an un-balanced Yang worldview Willmott, 1985, 1989; Knights & Vurdabakis,
in this paper. Even though mainstream forthcoming; Miller, 1987; Miller & O'Leary,
researchers maintain that their research is 1987; Miller & Rose, 1988; Roberts, 1991;
separate from reality and does not influence it, Walsh & Stewart, 1988; Willmott, 1986;
mainstream financial and management Willmott & Knights, 1982).
accounting research, like accounting practice, Hopwood ( 1990, p. 16) calls for views which
reproduces, reifies and legitimizes the
worldview of the Universal

3 Cirlot( 1971, p. 253) explains the symbolism of myths of petrification (i.e. being turned into stone) as relating to an
arresting or petrifying of the impetus to moral progress and "evolution of the soul".
334 RUTH D. HINES

illuminate "both how accounting became what By "modernism" we mean the claim to practice Science
it was not and how it might become what it as we understood the term in high school. Extract from
currently is not". Choudhury ( 1988) discusses life if you can what is . . . value-laden .. . ethical,
the creative life-giving role of non-existence, cultural, tacit, skillful, smooth, curved - all things
counter, original, spare, strange; and what will be left is
non-happenings, zero and absence, especially
modernism.
the richness of "absence research" (p. 550):
Modernism has urged us since the 17th century
Fleming's serendipitous discovery of penicillin was and with increasing stridency during the 20th century
instigated by the absence of bacterial growth in to dismiss as doubtful or worse that which does
some parts of the laboratory culture. In some disci not come from formal and quantitative experiments
plines, certain types of absences have attained signifi directed at testing the implications of higher-order
cance as phenomena worthy of study in their own axioms; it has urged us to leave strictly to the side the
right (rather than as counterparts to presence), matters of moral force and human meaning.
for example, poverty (absence of wealth ) and
deviance (absence of conformity) in sociology; negli ... It is mainly an academic creation, taking its ideas of
gence (absence of care) in law; amnesia (absence of science from the blackboard and its ideas of science
memory) in psychiatry, a free market (absence of policy from the army. It shows therefore in many parts
regulation) in economics and so on (Choudhury, 1988, of academic life, in academic procedures for promotion,
p. 550). for instance, which require not reading and reflection
and earnest argument by the candidate's immediate
Water is a symbol of the Universal colleagues but a putatively objective Procedure resem
bling Prussian bureaucracy, and having many of its
Feminine. It is moist, soft, flowing and
charms.
receptive, strong enough to wear away
mountains, and unafraid to plunge into the .. . It has been a useful dream, but it is time . . . to
dark, empty space of the abyss (Grigg, 1989; wake up (Klamer & McCioskey, 1989, pp. 17-18, 20)
Watts, 1979). Arrington & Francis ( 1989)
embrace deconstruction "to affirm the abyss" Klamer & Mccloskey ( 1989) suggest "the
in the domain of knowledge and thus affirm wake up bell has sounded" in many disciplines.
the permanent possibility of social change (p. Pollner (1974, 1989) makes it clear that
9). They wish to "restore life to its original mundane reasoning (that is, ordinary, everyday,
difficulty which modernism and metaphysics common-sense reasoning, which is the same
have veiled and caused us to forget" (p. 9). reasoning which underlies all rationalist dis
They use deconstruction to resist "closing off course, including accounting and mainstream
the conversational space of account ing accounting research discourse, see Hines, 1991)
research" (p. 7), to create a "moment of is essentially occult. Common-sense reason
negation" (p. 8), to encourage the discovery of creates a world, and there is no escape from
"what is not said" (p. 8). Likewise, Shearer & that world unless one "empties" oneself. Our
Arrington (forthcoming) are not interested in very knowing, traps us in the world as we know
reproducing discourse which fills space with it, and as our knowing constitutes it, and as this
the sameness of what now exists and silences knowing constitutes us, and traps us in it. In
all difference, but rather they wish to focus Hindu philosophy, this web of illusion in which
on "all that has been excluded from the we are trapped, which we call "reality", is
symbolic and social orders . . . [and] to called "maya" (see also Ajaya, 1983; Capra,
speak from the space of negativity within 1983a; Chetwynd, 1982; May, 1988):
Western discourse" (p. 4).
Klamer & Mccloskey ( 1989, p. 18) claim The spider is a symbol with three distinct meanings;
that "our culture is awakening from a sometimes they merge or overlap, sometimes one or
modernist dream of three-and-one-half the other predominates. The three meanings are
derived from: (i) the creative power of the spider, as
centuries duration". lbey vividly capture the
exempli fied in the weaving of its web; (ii) the
dry barrenness, and tyranny, that results from spider's aggressiveness and (iii ) the spider's web as a
the repression of all that is of the Universal spiral net converging towards a central point. The
Feminine: spider sitting in
 FILLING THE NEGATIVE SPACE
335

its web is a symbol of the centre of the world, and is

Neimark ( 1990) voices concern that account
hence regarded in India as Maya, the eternal weaver of
the web of illusion. The spider's destructive powers are ing research which draws on postmodern phil
also connected with its significance as a symbol of the osophers such as Foucault (e.g. Burchell et al.,
world of phenomena . . . Spiders, in their ceaseless 1985; Loft, 1986; Knights & Collinson, 1987;
weaving and killing - building and destroying Miller & O'Leary, 1987; Hopwood, l 987b)
- symbolize the ceaseless alternation of forces on
which the stability of the universe depends. For this
may ultimately not be radical but "neo-
reason, the symbolism of the spider goes deep, signifying conservative" (p. 108) due to "the combination
as it does, that "continuous sacrifice" which is the means of disem powering rhetoric, an absence of
of man's continual transmutation throughout the emancipatory possibility and the lack of
course of his life ( Cirlot, 1971, p. 304 ). interest in the material world" (pp. 108-109).
Furthermore, "how can Foucault know what he
Maya is the "consensus reality orientation" claims without some general concepts, without
or "consensus trance" or "cultural trance" a theory?" (p. 108).
from which we need to "wake up" (Tart, Neimark suggests that these scholars who
1986). As Ajaya ( 1983, p. 251) states it, draw inspiration from postmodern philosophies
drawing on the Western psychology of Jung, such as Foucault "are caught in a web of power
and Eastern traditions: relations, and free-floating language games,
discourses and ad hoc constellations that they
When one moves to a more evolved mode of con
endlessly and 'neutrally' describe" ( 1990, p.
sciousness, the perspective changes, and what had
seemed to be important and real becomes insubstantial 110). As such, they are not sufficiently com
and unimportant . .. One passes through a series of mitted to the "material world of work and
evolu tionary changes. Each time he awakens from one power" or to "social change" and are "not
dream, he finds himself eruneshed in a more subtle merely ignoring, but being actively hostile
dream. This process continues until he reaches unitary
to, the broader materialist emphasis of Marx"
consciousness.
(p. 107).
From the perspective of this paper, her
As Houston (1987, p. 104) puts it,
concerns seem to come from an old dream,
"soulmaking requires that you die to one story
from which many accounting researchers are
to be reborn to a larger one".
waking, in which negative spaces were not
Foucault's ( 1971, 1979, 1982) intellectual
allowed. In waking from this dream, researchers
contribution lies in articulating the power
allow the lack, abyss, emptiness and absence:
knowledge web, in explaining how "the will to
the lack of an empowering rhetoric, an absence
exercise dominant control in society and
of emancipatory possibility, a lack of interest in
history has also discovered a way to clothe,
materiality, a lack of rationalist concepts, a lack
disguise, rarify and wrap itself systematically in
of theory, a spiritual darkness of not knowing
the language of truth, discipline, rationalist,
how to "solve" the world's ills, or how to
utilitarian value and knowledge" (Said, 1983,
release oneself from the captivity of reason and
p. 216, quoted by Neimark, 1990, p. 106). It
discourse. They have a readiness and courage to
seems that Foucault, given his commitment and
stand, un-accountable.
attachment to the path of the intellect and
From this perspective, there is no spider in
reason, did not transcend and escape the inner
any ultimate sense - no "cause" beyond
and outer cultural web:
rationalist thinking, no concrete "structure"
which exists separately and independently of
According to Foucault, we cannot escape from the
regimes of power/knowledge to some transcendental
perceptions and social practices, no dualities
regime of emancipation and truth (one which is not one beyond dualistic thinking. The message of
more production of power) ... The best we can do is the spider is that there is no ultimate spider
move from one regime of power/knowledge to another - no explicit, exterior, hard, objective
. . . We are caught in a web without a spider ... and "cause" or "perpetrator", or "persecutor'',
there is no escape (Neimark, 1990, p. 107).
neither "social
336 RUTH D. HINES

structure", "capitalism", "class" or "gender". As Wittgenstein said, "Laws, like the law of causation
Thus there are no simple, explicit, uniform, etc. treat of the network and not of what the network
action oriented, efficient cures for society's describes". For the game of Western philosophy and
many ills. Prematurely filling the negative science is to trap the universe in the networks of words
and numbers, so that there is always the temptation to
space created by this perception relieves the
confuse the rules, or laws, of grammar and mathematics
pain and frustra tion accompanying it, but it is with the actual operations of nature.
an illusory cure. The contribution of the
research which draws on postmodern . . . we must not confuse the game-rules of thought
philosophers, cited by Neimark, is to show that with the patterns of nature (Watts, 1979, p. 42).
reason and rationalist dis course are a web,
the realization of which is an essential In order to address issues of alienation then,
precursor to escaping or tran scending this researchers must address the inner web, that is,
web, and becoming an emanci patory subjectivity, and most importantly, their own
influence for others. (Nevertheless, her (Willmott, 1986; Knights & Willmott, 1989;
caution is congruent with the perspective Willmott & Knights, 1982).
of this paper, to the extent that any new Alternative research may be characterized
mode of analysis or description can become as an attempt to retrieve the lost Universal
concretized and "enshrined as the New Method" Feminine or Yin, by its concern for the
(Neimark, 1990, p. 106) and then come to subjective; its illumination of the interdepen
reproduce the un-balanced Masculine world dence between the inner and outer, subject
view. ) Watts (1979, p. 54) discusses reason as and object, observer and observed, mind and
a game of artificially imputting cause and effect matter, and the illusory nature of their pre
namings: sumed split (e.g. Boland, 1989; Boland &
Pondy, 1983; Chua, l 986b). Also, by a
[ In the game of the] basic law of cause and effect . . . concep tion of the fluid, interactive nature of
we think that lack of rain causes a drought, and a
drought causes famine, and famine causes death. But
reality not reality concretely pre-existing
lack of rain, drought, famine, and death are simply people "out there'', but as arising in
four ways of looking at, and describing the same event. interaction with and influencing the sentient
Given living organisms, lack-of-rain = death. The notion person (Hines, 1989a, 1991; Morgan, 1988).
of causality is simply a lame way of connecting the An emphasis on relating and caring, about
various stages of an event which we have distinguished
and separated for purposes of description; so that,
the adverse consequences engendered by
beguiled by our own words, we come to think of these accounting and accounting research, pervades
stages as different events which must be stuck to alternative research. Com plexity, diversity
gether again by the glue of causality (Watts, 1979, pp. and proliferation are valued, rather than
54-55).
researchers submitting to demands for
standardization and repetition. Difference and
Manicas (forthcoming, p. 8) makes a similar disagreement between researchers char
point: "It is often said that science searches for acterizes alternative research. This is seen
causes. But it is almost never noticed that the as a "weakness" and a "problem" by
view of causality which is then assumed derives mainstream researchers, but as a sign of
from Hume, a regularity notion, such that C is abundance, creat ivity and potential by
the cause of E means 'whenever C, E"' . alternative researchers. Because of this
When one holds an inner view of the world abundance and difference, this research is
as split into subject and object, cause and effect, resilient and resistant to efforts to name,
mind and matter, this is externalized in dis bound, unify, enclose and objectify it. It does
course, and projected onto society and nature not have a standard designation but is var
in the act of perceiving. This results in an iously called "alternative", "radical", "critical",
objectification of relationships and nature, and "social constructionist", "sociopolitical", each
hence alienation: of these by no means representing a consensus
naming. Critique is seen as essential to growth
 FILLING THE NEGATIVE SPACE
337

of knowledge, since it is the anomalies, contra tion may occur between the two: an integration
dictions and inadequacies, the "death" and of thinking and reasoning with intuition and
"letting go" of theories and knowledge, which feeling; a balancing of active and productive
provides the ground, impetus and direction for doing, with stillness and contemplation; a
the birth of new insights and knowledge. preparedness to receptively wait as well as
Alternative research is not rigidly enclosed in aggressively confront; a blending of material
dry, rationalist, academic styles of presentation concerns with spiritual realization; a dilution of
but embraces such imaginative forms as drama the respect for analysis, discourse and argument
(Pinch et al., 1989), dialogue (Hines, 1988) with a love of silence; a complementing of
and pictorial collage (Hopwood & Loft, 1989). dualistic thought with intuitive holistic seeing;
Hopwood & Loft ( 1989) pictorially illustrate a softening of the attachment to logic with a
the tyranny of the conception of linear time as receptivity to imagination and dreams; a turning
reproduced through accounting disclosure, and of the coin, to see that the other side of linear
its associated ideals of efficiency, productivity, time and permanent change is the turning and
perfectionism and progress. returning of time, and permanence in change.
There are no "conclusions" to this paper,
to fill and close off the "negative space" of
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS the Feminine or Yin realm, much less hard
directives for future research. Incessant reason
This paper has argued that most people and ing and discourse about the Universal Feminine
societies in the present planetary order are or Yin simply serves to intellectualize and
dominated by the un-balanced Masculine or objectify it, turning "it" back into the hard
Yang worldview. In order for a balancing, an stone of the un-balanced Masculine or Yang.
emergence of the Universal Feminine or Yin is Unpopular though it be, in the world at
necessary, so that a genuine union or integra- present, I wish to affirm the silence.

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