EFAG Seminar with Prof Danture Wickramasinghe (Adam Smith Business School)

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 the speaker

Professor Danture Wickramasinghe is the Chair in Management Accounting at Adam Smith Business School. Being an academic over 40 years, Danture is now globally known as a critical researcher in accounting in developing countries. His international visibility is evidenced in his extensive profile of over 50 publications. These include in internationally reputed journals such as Accounting, Organizations and Society, Auditing and Accountability Journal; Critical Perspectives on Accounting; Accounting and Business Research; Accounting Forum, Accounting & Organizational Change; Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management; and Accounting in Emerging Economies. Currently, he serves on editorial boards of 6 of these journals. He is also the co-author/editor of two landmark books in accounting. He has contributed to several edited collections with monographs on accounting and development issues and presented at many international conferences and workshops.