DECONSTRUCTING FAIR VALUE: A POSTMODERN ANALYSIS OF ACCOUNTING AS A SOCIAL REALITY

Abstract:The human-centric structure that emerged after the Enlightenment placed deterministic and mathematical models at the forefront of scientific thought. As a result, the historical cost concept became the dominant valuation method in accounting, and it continues to be partially used in some countries today. However, since the 1980s, leading academic journals have increasingly discussed the cost-based valuation approach within the framework of Foucault’s concept of the “dispositive” a mechanism of control within the surveillance society. In contrast, Baudrillard argues that in the contemporary information society, reality is no longer directly represented but instead transformed into a performance through codes and models. This perspective raises important questions about whether real-time exchange transactions in financial markets truly reflect economic reality, particularly in underdeveloped markets. This study critically examines the concept of fair value, introduced by IFRS 13, which prioritizes market values. Using Jacques Derrida’s deconstruction approach, the study analyses how fair value is constructed as a financial and social reality. The findings emphasize that economic reality is shaped by language and social structures, making it a dynamic and periodically shifting phenomenon rather than an objective truth.

 

Keywords: Postmodern Accounting; Discipline Power; Simulation; Fair Value.