The possibilities of accountability

Abstract

The concern of this paper is to extend the critique of accounting through an exploration of the more inclusive concept of accountability. The paper begins by stating the positive effects upon the individual of being held accountable, and then goes on to explore how different forms of accountability produce different senses of our self and our relationship to others. It is argued that hierarchical forms of accountability, in which accounting currently plays a central role, serve to produce and reproduce an individualized sense of self; a sense of the self as essentially solitary and singular, nervously preoccupied with how one is seen. These effects are contrasted with what are described as socializing forms of accountability which flourish in the informal spaces of organizations and which confirm self in a way that emphasizes the interdependence of self and others. The tensions and interdependencies between these two forms of accountability are then explored. It is argued that contemporary organizational accountability is constructed around an untenable and destructive split of ethical and strategic concerns to the detriment of both. The search for the possibilities of accountability should be oriented to the reconciliation of this divide.