dged by the manner in which they approach matters that are central to the concept, techniques, and technologies of accounting and finance. This is not quite the same thing as a straightforward economic account of social structure. Rather, it shows how a particular conception of social structure implies the manner in which the society will, so to speak, account for itself. That is what Scott means when he refers (for example) to his "historical interpretation of the development of the market..... followed by..... current aspects of economic control of the market" (p. 4). In other words, he begins with a notion of society, or more exactly a description of society's notion of itself, then moves toward showing how that notion may have changed over the centuries yet governed the manner in which it projected itself into the world.
It is in this way, too, that Scott moves from discussing the "dominant philosophical viewpoint" of (Western) culture, through an analysis of the historical content of that culture, toward an analysis of its contemporary content and a projection of possible lines of development. Scott locates that viewpoint in the economic history of the culture, which is oriented toward the market theories that emerged after the Middle Ages and that coincided with the evolution of such "habits of thought" (Scott, 1973, p. 43, et passim), as the Reformation, the importance of the individual and competitive individualism, the rise of the scientific and objective method, nationalism, the industrial revolution, and increased foreign trade. The triumph of the market orientation is accounted for by the confluence of these factors, and the breaking of the hegemony of the Church.
Even though Scott cites a number of factors from the 19th century onward that show the diffusion of market control--from the labor movement to government regulation to monopolies to financial collapses to the increasing influence of technology- the...