Can we stop calling ‘critical theory’ ‘history’?

Several articles have debated the differences between critical and traditional accounting history, generally concluding with a call for reconciliation. This article argues that this debate has been lost, and critical history has claimed the field. After reviews of historiography that dispute the foundations of accounting critical history research, the article discusses the very real consequences of this defeat: that actual history research has become irrelevant to accounting research. On a hopeful note, a review of several recent historiographic articles in accounting journals suggests that this point is gaining currency, although it has yet to permeate most mainstream journals.