Accounting for Change in the Public Sector: A Socio-Political Perspective
Accounting for Change in the Public Sector: A Socio-Political Perspective

Author(s): Pietro Pavone
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Economy, Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life, Business Economy / Management, Governance, Societal Essay, Accounting - Business Administration, Socio-Economic Research
Published by: Университет за национално и световно стопанство (УНСС)
Keywords: accounting; change; public sector; critical accounting; power
Summary/Abstract: This essay adheres to a critical and emancipatory accounting perspective, challenging traditional approaches based on a general neo-classical conception of organizations and economic agents. A brief overview of social and political studies of accounting for change is provided. The calculative instruments of accountancy inhabit extra-organizational spaces functional to the art of government. Governments are shown to have used accounting tools to promote political issues, making some aspects visible (with solid technical traction) to mask others (with a strong socio-political meaning). Theoretically descriptive and ontologically based on some of Foucault's intuitions, the work identifies some fundamental trajectories that have affected – using accounting „politically“ – the recent transformations of socio economic systems. A more influential academic debate would be possible starting from the assumption of accounting as a practice that is not only technical-administrative but, above all, socio-political. Such an approach would help to understand more deeply the involvement of accounting systems and techniques within social reality.

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