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Governmentality, counter‐conduct, and modes of governing: Accounting and the pursuit of municipal sustainable waste management.

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Title: Governmentality, counter‐conduct, and modes of governing: Accounting and the pursuit of municipal sustainable waste management.
Authors: Ahrens, Thomas1 (AUTHOR) ahrens101@gmail.com, Ferry, Laurence2,3 (AUTHOR)
Source: Contemporary Accounting Research. Jun2025, Vol. 42 Issue 2, p985-1012. 28p.
Subject Terms: *PUBLIC administration, *WASTE management, *PERFORMANCE management, *FEDERAL government, *GOVERNMENT accounting
Abstract (English): Recent research into the uses of accounting as a technology of government has used Foucault's notion of "counter‐conduct" to shed light on various ways in which the governed can seek to alter the regimes to which they are subjected. This paper unpacks the notion of counter‐conduct further in order to develop a clearer conceptualization of how regimes of government can change over time, with or without clearly identifiable attempts by the governed to influence such changes. We develop our argument based on a longitudinal field study of sustainable waste management practices in a municipality in the English East Midlands. We track the municipality's attempts to become more sustainable in the context of an evolving central government performance management regime that went through a series of legislative and administrative iterations—namely, Best Value, Comprehensive Performance Assessment, and Comprehensive Area Assessment. We conceptualize these iterations of central performance management and the related changes in local government practices and technologies of governing as a series of overlapping "modes of governing" (Bulkeley et al., 2007, Environment and Planning A, 39(11), 2733–2753). We suggest that accounting research can benefit from the notion of modes of governing because it sheds light on the theoretically expected, but empirically underresearched, copresence of multiple rationales, programs, and technologies of governing, all operating at the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Abstract (French): Résumé: Gouvernementalité, contre‐conduite et modes de gouvernement : la comptabilité et la gestion durable des déchets urbains Des recherches récentes sur l'utilisation de la comptabilité en tant que technologie de gouvernement s'appuient sur la notion de « contre‐conduite », telle que développée par Foucault, pour mettre en lumière diverses manières par lesquelles les gouvernés peuvent tenter de modifier les régimes auxquels ils sont soumis. Cet article approfondit la notion de contre‐conduite pour proposer une meilleure conceptualisation des évolutions dans le temps des régimes de gouvernement, que celles‐ci soient accompagnées ou non d'efforts apparents de la part des gouvernés pour influencer ces évolutions. Les auteurs basent leur argumentation sur une étude de terrain longitudinale des pratiques de gestion durable des déchets dans une municipalité des Midlands de l'Est en Angleterre. Ils examinent les initiatives de cette municipalité en matière de développement durable dans le cadre d'un régime de gestion du rendement instauré par le gouvernement central qui a exécuté des itérations successives de nature législatives et administratives, à savoir Best Value, Comprehensive Performance Assessment et Comprehensive Area Assessment. Ils conceptualisent ces processus itératifs de gestion centrale du rendement, ainsi que les changements qui en découlent dans les pratiques de l'administration locale et les technologies de gouvernement, comme des chevauchements de « modes de gouvernement » (Bulkeley et al., 2007). Les auteurs suggèrent que la notion de modes de gouvernement peut être utile pour la recherche en comptabilité, car elle révèle la coprésence, à la fois attendue sur le plan théorique, mais peu étudiée sur le plan empirique, de multiples motifs, de programmes et de technologies de gouvernement opérant simultanément. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Database: Business Source Index
Description
Abstract:Recent research into the uses of accounting as a technology of government has used Foucault's notion of "counter‐conduct" to shed light on various ways in which the governed can seek to alter the regimes to which they are subjected. This paper unpacks the notion of counter‐conduct further in order to develop a clearer conceptualization of how regimes of government can change over time, with or without clearly identifiable attempts by the governed to influence such changes. We develop our argument based on a longitudinal field study of sustainable waste management practices in a municipality in the English East Midlands. We track the municipality's attempts to become more sustainable in the context of an evolving central government performance management regime that went through a series of legislative and administrative iterations—namely, Best Value, Comprehensive Performance Assessment, and Comprehensive Area Assessment. We conceptualize these iterations of central performance management and the related changes in local government practices and technologies of governing as a series of overlapping "modes of governing" (Bulkeley et al., 2007, Environment and Planning A, 39(11), 2733–2753). We suggest that accounting research can benefit from the notion of modes of governing because it sheds light on the theoretically expected, but empirically underresearched, copresence of multiple rationales, programs, and technologies of governing, all operating at the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:08239150
DOI:10.1111/1911-3846.13026