Globalization, paradox and the (un)making of identities: Immigrant Chartered Accountants of India in Canada

Abstract

We study the labour market experiences of immigrant accountants in Canada, to reveal the tensions contradictions and paradoxes embedded in neoliberal globalization. Drawing on themes within pragmatic sociology (Boltanski & Thévenot, [1991] 2006), we argue that globalization has differentially impacted on the moral orders underpinning the identity projects of the Canadian state and the elite sector of the accountancy profession and this has in turn created three paradoxes: paradox of the state, paradox of the market and paradox of place.