Accountancy bodies related to education have had influence in the reformulation of curriculum and standard of the discipline of Accounting Theory. The scientific community in turn has discussed in articles and books, the identity of the discipline in the world to assist the consolidation process. One way to verify the identity of a discipline is to find a set of characteristics that make it unique and differentiate it from others, thus giving it a perspective of continuity (ROWE, Truex and KVASNY, 2004). These characteristics can be reflected through the socio-political and cognitive legitimacy (MESSNER et al., 2008). In this context, the research question is formulated: What is the identity of the discipline of Accounting Theory in Brazil? To answer this question is the objective of this study, by the identification and analysis of aspects of cognitive and socio-political legitimacy of the discipline of Accounting Theory, thereby finding its identity as a discipline in Brazil. To meet this goal, this researcher analyzed the content of documents related to accounting courses in Brazil. To undertake the analysis of these documents, the criteria applied were cognitive and socio-political. Regarding the socio-political legitimacy, the following were researched: documents, rules and resolutions of official agencies, research groups, and class representation; for cognitive legitimacy the following, principally related to accounting, were analyzed: publications including, major journals, conference/seminar, course books and manuals. The results reveal that the discipline has its own identity. Regarding the socio-political legitimacy it appears that the professional accountancy bodies and class have influence in the discipline. However this discipline needs greater legitimacy in the scientific community (research groups in the DGP / CNPq). As for cognitive legitimacy, it demonstrates its character, that include: its own disciplines, presence in the curriculum time table of undergraduate and postgraduate levels and relevant scientific (academic) publications in journals. However, it is necessary for accountancy bodies related to education to standardize and establish themes and taxonomy) itself.
Da Rosa, F., Soares, S. V., Da Rosa, V., Lunkes R. J. e Pfitscher, E. D. (2012). A Identidade da Teoria da Contabilidade: Uma Análise de Aspectos da Legitimidade Sócio-Política e Cognitiva da Disciplina no Brasil. REICE. Revista Iberoamericana sobre Calidad, Eficacia y Cambio en Educación, 10 (4), pp. 239-263.
http://www.rinace.net/reice/numeros/arts/vol10num4/art15.pdf. Consultado el (Fecha).
