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Researching and Publishing in Non-Western Contexts [1]

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Date: 2026-02 

Dr Junaid Ashraf holds a PhD in accounting from University of Essex. He is a fellow member of Association Chartered Certified Accountants (UK) and an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan. His research interests are in public sector financial management, corruption, gender & precarious work and management control. He has published in Human Relations, Work, Employment & Society, Management Accounting Research, International Journal of Accounting, Critical Perspectives on Accounting and Financial Accountability & Management. Before joining academia, he served as manager of assurance services in one of the top four international accounting firm in Pakistan.

Professor Silvia Gaia is a Professor of Accounting at Essex Business School (EBS). She is currently the EBS Director of Sustainability and the Deputy Head of the Accounting Group. She previously held other positions within the Business School and worked as a Lecturer in Accounting at the University of Cagliari (Italy). She held visiting scholar positions at the University of Birmingham (UK), HEC Montréal (Canada) and Columbia Business School (USA). Silvia’s research focuses on the interplay between financial and non-financial reporting, social and environmental issues and corporate governance. She has published her research in highly reputed academic journals such as Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Accounting and Business Research, British Accounting Review, Accounting Forum, Regional Studies and Journal of Business Ethics, among others. She is a recipient of several grants from different bodies, such as the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), the Institute of Family Business (IFB), the British Academy (BA), which have been enabling knowledge exchange and development of impact cases in relation to corporate governance, sustainability and corporate reporting. Silvia is an Associate Editor for Accounting Forum and Journal of International Accounting Auditing and Taxation and an editorial board member of the Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies. She was the Chair of the Special Interested Group of the British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA) on Financial Accounting and Reporting (FARSIG) from 2021 to 2024 and currently sits on FARSIG Advisory Board.

Professor Shahzad Uddin is a Professor of Accounting and Director of the Centre for Accountability and Global Development at Essex Business School, University of Essex. He is the founding editor of the Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies (JAEE). Professor Uddin received the British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA) 'Distinguished Academic Award' in 2022, recognising his significant contributions to academic accounting and his pivotal role in shaping accounting and finance education in the UK. He was conferred as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, acknowledging his impactful contributions to the field in 2024. Professor Shahzad Uddin’s research sits at the intersection of accounting, political economy, and critical social theory. His work interrogates how accounting operates not as a neutral technical instrument but as a social and political practice that embeds domination, reproduces inequality, and silences alternative epistemologies. Over three decades, he has developed sustained research projects across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, addressing themes of neoliberal reform, labour control, corporate governance, sustainability, and settler colonialism. The intellectual distinctiveness of these research projects lies in connecting fine-grained empirical investigation in Majority World contexts with theoretical contributions on epistemic injustice, structural violence, and decolonial thought. Collectively, they advance the argument that accounting is deeply implicated in wider struggles over sovereignty, labour, and knowledge. The significance of these research projects is demonstrated through their influence across academic, policy, and public domains. Research on privatisation and neoliberal reforms has reshaped critical development debates, highlighting the regressive consequences of donor-led restructuring. Studies of labour controls and unfreedom have shown the persistence of slavery within contemporary global supply chains, contributing directly to debates on workers’ rights, supply-chain governance, and reform of modern slavery legislation. Collaborative research on Palestine has reframed accounting as part of settler-colonial domination, amplifying the political stakes of financial controls in conflict zones. Projects on corporate governance have challenged the universalising assumptions of Anglo-American codes, offering contextually grounded alternatives that speak directly to reform debates in Africa and Asia. Across these strands, Professor Uddin’s research demonstrates how accounting mediates global processes of neoliberalisation, colonisation, and resistance, advancing a critical reorientation of the field. The reach of these research projects is international and interdisciplinary. His work has appeared in leading journals in accounting (Accounting, Organizations and Society; Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal), sociology (Work, Employment and Society), public administration (Public Administration; International Review of Administrative Sciences), and development (Development and Change). These publications have been widely cited and recognised across fields, underlining their cross-disciplinary resonance. Beyond academia, his work has engaged policy and public audiences through outlets such as The Conversation and Everyday Society. Articles on Palestine, Bangladesh, and labour rights have reached global readerships and influenced public debate. Recognition such as the LERA Scoville Prize for research on labour control, and invitations to address professional and policy audiences internationally, further demonstrate impact beyond disciplinary boundaries. Through editorship of the Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies and leadership in scholarly associations, Professor Uddin has also built platforms for Majority World researchers and created solidarities that sustain counter-hegemonic scholarship. This role exemplifies a commitment to sustaining a vibrant, inclusive research culture within and beyond the UK. These research projects demonstrate vitality in their intellectual ambition and methodological breadth. They combine ethnography, archival research, and cultural political economy analysis across diverse contexts — from Bangladeshi tea plantations to Japanese hospitals, Palestinian fiscal politics to African family firms. Sustainability is assured through ongoing collaborations with early-career researchers, doctoral supervision, and international partnerships across more than a dozen countries. Future projects build directly on these foundations, addressing violence, labour controls, and resistance in South Asia, epistemic decolonisation in accounting scholarship, and the re-theorisation of governance through non-Western philosophies. Funding applications are underway with partners in Bangladesh and the UK, ensuring resourcing for sustained impact.

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[1] Url: https://theconversation.com/uk/events/researching-and-publishing-in-non-western-contexts-qualitative-quantitative-and-strategic-approaches-15069

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