Audit Culture: How Indicators and Rankings are Reshaping the World

The book "Audit Culture" explores the rise of the audit culture and its implications for democracy, documenting and analyzing how it operates across various fields and offering actions to reverse its damaging effects.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 20 February 2024
Publisher: Pluto Press

The measurement and management of all aspects of our work and private lives have become increasingly prevalent. However, the emergence of this audit culture and its impact on our world is a topic that requires careful examination. In their timely account, Cris Shore and Susan Wright offer an anthropological perspective on the rise of the new industries of accounting, enumeration, and ranking. Drawing on political economy, ethnographic observation, and genealogical excavation, the authors provide a comprehensive analysis of these phenomena and their implications for democracy.

Audit Culture is a groundbreaking work that systematically documents and analyzes these phenomena, offering a comprehensive examination of their effects across various fields. The book explores how audit culture operates in health, higher education, NGOs, finance, the automobile industry, and the military. The authors build a powerful critique of contemporary public sector management in an age of neoliberal market-making, privatization, and outsourcing. They argue that audit culture undermines democratic accountability, professional autonomy, and the well-being of communities.

The book concludes with a series of suggested actions to reverse the damaging effects of audit culture. These include reestablishing trust between citizens and public institutions, promoting transparency and accountability, and revitalizing public sector management. The authors argue that restoring democratic accountability is essential for building a more equitable and sustainable world.

In conclusion, Audit Culture is a thought-provoking and important book that sheds light on the rise of audit culture and its implications for democracy. By offering a comprehensive analysis and proposing practical solutions, the authors contribute to our understanding of the challenges we face in the modern world and provide a roadmap for rebuilding trust and promoting democratic accountability.

Weight: 258g
Dimension: 140 x 217 x 29 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780745336459