DrFarzana Tanima

Dr. Farzana Aman Tanima's research focuses on qualitative and critical accounting, with an emphasis on democratising accounting through dialogic approaches. Her work challenges the ways in which accounting has been co-opted by neoliberal, capitalist frameworks and seeks to develop alternative, socially inclusive accounting practices that recognise ideological conflicts. Dialogic accounting is central to her research, enabling diverse social actors to account for issues overlooked by traditional accounting and to construct accountings that align with their philosophical and political standpoints.

Her research also explores the role of accounting in NGOs, microfinance, and development. Prior accounting research highlights the neoliberal discourse dominates development institutions' thinking and practices, including market-focused representations of what it means to be an "empowered woman." Accordingly, Dr. Tanima has employed critical dialogic accounting and accountability (CDAA) approaches using participatory action research (PAR) methods, to create spaces for poor women in Bangladesh to collectively reflect on their experiences with microfinance and women's empowerment. By facilitating discussions informed by ideas of micropolitics, divergent discourses, and a politics of becoming, her research has challenged patriarchal and neoliberal subjectivities, while also shaping ongoing explorations of alternative gender and development (GAD) discourses.

Additionally, her work investigates the intersections of accounting with race and authoritarian neoliberalism. One of her studies examines how accounting can both entrench and challenge Australia's offshore detention policies for asylum seekers, analysing how the securitisation and militarisation of borders silence marginalised groups. This study engages with counter-accounts produced by meso-level organisations supporting asylum seekers to expose governmental unaccountability and explore the potential of counter-accounting for social change.

She has also contributed to research on Indigenous accounting education through dialogic approaches. Her work in this area reflects on her journey as an accounting educator engaging with Jindaola, a university-based Aboriginal knowledge program. Using autoethnography and dialogic pedagogy, she explores how Indigenous perspectives challenge colonial legacies in accounting education and contribute to addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through this work, she highlights the transformative potential of Indigenous knowledge in reimagining accounting as a technical, social, and moral practice.