Social Accounting into Action: Religion as ‘Moral Source’

ABSTRACT

This paper analyses, and responds to, one aspect of perceived failures of social and environmental accounting to make societies more sustainable. First, we argue that Charles Taylor’s concept of moral sources can articulate part of the ‘motivational gap’ between social and environmental accounts and sustainability. A moral source is an ideal that inspires people to enact their beliefs. Without a compelling moral source, social and environmental accounts may increase people’s knowledge of sustainability issues without changing their behaviour. Second, we use religion to illustrate the type of moral source that social accounting might mobilise. Drawing on Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home (2015), we outline how moral sources can clarify what sustainable action requires and help commit people to these actions. Third, we apply this religious moral source to social and environmental accounting research into climate change-induced migration. Our paper does not argue that religion in general, or Catholic texts in particular, are the only moral sources accounting research could use. Rather, we use this religious discourse to illustrate the potential value of more directly linking social and environmental accounting to ‘moral sources’ that perform a comparable role in motivating sustainable social practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Climate change
• hypergoods
• moral sources
• religion
• social accounting
• Taylor

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Following Gray (2014a), we use the terms social accounting and SEA interchangeably.

2. According to Gray (2007, 170), ‘accounts’ both represent and construct organisations and are used by stakeholders to ‘do things’. Accounts, including social, environmental, sustainability, etc., represent the equipment used by accounting researchers.

3. Papal encyclicals are ‘letters’ from a religious leader to (approximately) 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide (BBC 2013). Encyclicals aim to apply Catholic principles to a new or challenging issue, and potentially to change behaviour (GCCM, 2015). Past topics include inequality, respect for life, the right to religious freedom and technology.

4. Smith (2002) notes that Habermas is sympathetic to Taylor on this point.

5. We acknowledge that there is extensive Catholic scholarship with which we do not engage. However, our aim here is a heuristic account of moral sources, rather than of Catholic theology.

6. For example, the Pacific Calling Partnership is a group of ‘organisations and individuals who seek an Australia and a world’ that listens to the Pacific Islanders and takes serious the threat climate change poses to them; recognises Australia’s debt to the Pacific Islands; and raises awareness of the responsibility to the Pacific Islands; see http://www.erc.org.au/.