Public interest accounting is a branch of academic accounting research that attempts to understand how accounting practices and the activities of the accounting profession impact the public interest. Public interest-focused accounting research sheds light on the role of accounting in perpetuating unequal social relations, while attempting to rectify such issues via scholarship and the dissemination of research results. It is heavily influenced by the ideas of social theorists, including but not limited to Marx, Gramsci, Foucault, Bourdieu, and Said.