L’identité négative de l’auditeur

Lambert Jerman and Alaric Bourgoin

ACCRA, 2018, vol. 24, issue 1, 113-142

Abstract: In this paper, we develop the concept of ?negative identity? to illuminate the identity work of auditors in Big Four firms. Negative identity is not used to show practitioners? work in a bad light. Rather, it captures the practices and discourses through which auditors build their image as ?good professionals? through a continuous, fragile relationship with their own weaknesses. Based on a six-month ethnographic study, we illustrate the mechanics of auditors? negative identity, which is structured around three core sets of practices and discourses: experiencing, confessing, and addressing weaknesses. By tracing these sets of practices, we investigate a lesser-known aspect of auditors? identity work, and analyze how the difficulties encountered in real-life auditing contribute to the alignment of the auditor?s self-identity and social identity.

Keywords: auditor; identity work; Big Four; negative identity; ethnography (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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