Translation impossible? Accounting for a city project
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
ISSN: 0951-3574
Article publication date: 30 March 2010
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the complexity of accounting for the city, on a specific example of an urban project in Rome.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a study consisting of various accounts of the project, including a photo reportage done by the author.
Findings
The study revealed that in spite of, and perhaps because of, a multitude of accounts, it was difficult if not impossible to follow the chain of translations from a political decision to actual events in the city. One of the reasons is the politicians' tendency to manipulate accounts; another is the hermetic character of technical accounts, including accounting, which makes actual processes more opaque rather than more transparent.
Research limitations/implications
Within research perspective, a conceptualization of city management as a construction and maintenance of an action net might be helpful in attempts to render the complexity of translations of events and actions into words and numbers, and vice versa.
Practical implications
The practical implication is that a more focused and consistent translation is needed, leaving open the question who should accomplish it. The possible candidates are the media, citizens' organizations and researchers.
Originality/value
The paper offers a possible interpretative frame for studying city management, enriching it by the inclusion of visual reporting.
Keywords
Citation
Czarniawska, B. (2010), "Translation impossible? Accounting for a city project", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 23 No. 3, pp. 420-437. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513571011034361
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2010, Emerald Group Publishing Limited