Professor Colin Dey

University of Dundee

Abstract

Within sustainability accounting research, prior studies have exposed the wide variety of ways in which forms of corporate disclosure can misinform and misrepresent (Collison, 2003; Milne et al., 2009; Gray, 2010). From this perspective, disclosure is often understood as rhetorical ammunition in ongoing struggles over legitimacy, accountability and the justification of wrongdoing. In this paper, we argue that, while these issues are undoubtedly crucial, other aspects of corporate miscommunication may have been overlooked. Drawing on the sociology of elites, we explore the role of corporate miscommunication in the symbolic preservation and normalisation of status and authority (Rahman Khan, 2012; Thurlow and Jaworski, 2017). Our analysis considers in particular the role of corporate miscommunication in perpetrating epistemic manipulation and injustice (Baird and Calvard, 2018). We suggest that corporate miscommunication may be understood as a form of emotional and psychological manipulation known as gaslighting, and that this in turn can become an important tactic in the maintenance and justification of elite formation and distinction (Daloz, 2010). While forms of corporate miscommunication such as greenwashing are widely recognised, we believe our conceptualisation of corporate disclosure as a form of epistemic injustice or gaslighting, and as a key discursive mechanism for elite formation, provides a greater level of sophistication that allows us to confront the more sinister implications of corporate miscommunication. By recognising and naming the damaging and destructive aspects of dishonesty and deception within epistemic conflicts, it may be possible to make visible and confront the underlying power inequalities and structures that enable such manipulative behaviour. In doing so, we aim to contribute to research on elite misconduct by opening up new perspectives, possibilities and pathways (Cousin et al., 2018).