Hurricane Katrina: Exploring justice and fairness as a sociology of common good(s)

Stephanie Perkiss and Lee Moerman

CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, 2020, vol. 67-68

Abstract: Disasters or crises present opportunities to challenge society’s taken-for-granted assumptions about the order of things. This paper applies the sociology of worth (SOW), as detailed by Boltanski & Thévenot, ([1991] 2006), to conceptualize the ‘common good’ in complex social situations or disputes, in this case a disaster. We use SOW to construct a narrative of Hurricane Katrina according to a nuanced understanding of disruptions to the social order. Previous accounting studies of disasters have demonstrated how accounts play a pivotal role in defining questions of justice and accountability – to whom and for what? SOW provides a framework to accommodate multiple rationalities and experiences in relation to a particular ‘situation’. We argue that the common good, evaluated through logic and reasoning within a ‘situation’ or social reality, is multiple. This study contributes to our understanding of and making visible the contentions, compromises and conflicts that arise from a disaster and mobilize neglected or hidden accounts of what it means to achieve the common good.

Keywords: Accounts; Common goods; Hurricane Katrina; Sociology of Worth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:67-68:y:2020:i::s1045235417301338

DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2017.11.002

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