EFAG Seminar with Danture Wickramasinghe (Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow)

Seeing Like a State: Social Auditability, Mundane Governance, and Accountability

Abstract

In less-developed countries, widespread corruption and malpractices contribute to ongoing underdevelopment. Accounting researchers have explored how transnational financial agencies and international development organizations leverage accounting technologies to address these issues. This paper extends this inquiry by specifically focusing on the World Bank's Sri Lankan Office and its introduction of a novel accounting technology termed "social auditing." Implemented in the oversight of local authorities managing World Bank-funded projects, this technology embodies a form of social auditability. To understand its impact, this study poses the following questions: How does social auditability function within the chosen local area? In what ways does it influence everyday governance and accountability? What immediate consequences arise from its integration into governance practices? The findings indicate that this innovative accounting technology effectively mobilizes local communities, enabling their active involvement in planning, decision-making, and project auditing. This contrasts with the conventional reliance on state apparatuses, which proved susceptible to corruption and malpractices during the neoliberal era. Drawing inspiration from James Scott's "Seeing Like a State," the research demonstrates that social auditability engenders localized, grassroots forms of governance and micro-accountability practices. This development challenges the established top-down approaches and contributes to the ongoing critical accounting research, exploring how transnational financial agencies and international development organizations introduce accounting technologies to mitigate adverse consequences in service of the global function of neoliberal capitalism.

About Prof Danture Wickramasinghe

Professor Danture Wickramasinghe is the Chair in Management Accounting at Adam Smith Business School.

Previously, he was the Chair in Management Accounting and the Director of Research Centre in Accounting and Accountability at Hull University of Business School and a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer and the Programme Director of MSc in Accounting and Finance at Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, where he was also the coordinator of the Management Accounting Module on the Global MBA Programme. Before moving to the United Kingdom, he was the Dean of the Faculty of Management & Finance and the Head of the Department of Commerce at the University of Colombo, Head of Department of Business Administration, and a Lecturer/Senior lecturer at the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka.