Figure 2
The diagram shows a four-quadrant layout with the horizontal axis labeled “Symbolic Capital” and the vertical axis labeled “Neoliberal Rationality”. The top right quadrant is labeled “Roman numeral 1. High Symbolic Capital, High Neoliberal Rationality” with three bullet points: “Big Four Firms”, “E F R A G and E U Regulatory Bodies (Post-Omnibus)”, and “Large Multinational Corporations”. The top left quadrant is labeled “Roman numeral 2. Low Symbolic Capital, High Neoliberal Rationality” with two bullet points: “Sustainability Tech Providers slash E S G Data Vendors” and “Second-tier Consultancy Firms”. The bottom left quadrant is labeled “Roman numeral 3. Low Symbolic Capital, Low Neoliberal Rationality” with two bullet points: “Global South Stakeholder Networks” and “Grassroots Environmental and Indigenous Movements”. The bottom right quadrant is labeled “Roman numeral 4. High Symbolic Capital, Low Neoliberal Rationality” with two bullet points: “Leading Critical Accounting Scholars” and “Certain Transnational N G O s (for example, Accountability frameworks with Southern epistemologies)”. A double-headed diagonal arrow connects quadrant roman numeral 1 and roman numeral 3. Another leftward arrow is positioned below the quadrants. To the right of the quadrants are three text blocks. The first block reads “Roman numeral 4 to roman numeral 3: Co-optation: N G O s or scholars move toward the center-right, gaining institutional legitimacy while losing epistemic radicalism”. The second block reads “Roman numeral 3 to roman numeral 1: Resistance: Bottom-left actors challenge dominant field logics through alliances, critical scholarship, or hybridization strategies”. The third block reads “Roman numeral 1 to roman numeral 3: Symbolic Violence: Top-right actors exert epistemic pressure on the bottom-left, illustrating how dominant actors impose frameworks that subordinate others”.Field positions of actors in sustainability accounting by symbolic capital and alignment with neoliberal rationalities. Source: Author’s own work