Shadows and disorder: ethics in “dark times”

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the “ethics and transparency‐accountability” paradox in which the oft‐repeated mantras of ethical luminosity, such as transparency and accountability, appear designed to assure one that all is well when such confirmation is, possibly, no more than part of an illusion – a superficiality purporting to confirm that what is seen is the only reality of public ethics.

Design/methodology/approach

Utilizing an analytical approach based on the comparative analysis of historical and contemporary isomorphisms this paper suggests that despite post‐modern voices about fracture, the multiplicity of “realities” and possible futures, there still remains an almost paradigmatic conviction that “visibility” is politically more efficacious than “invisibility.” Rendering situations visible supposedly exposes violations of ethical standards, professional norms and protects one from “criminogenic” elites. This paper questions whether light always cast out darkness and whether “Dark Times” demand relentless transparency?

Findings

This paper finds that constructing “realities” has always involved a manipulation of what is seen and not seen – what is real and what is illusionary. “Shadows” and “disorder” are also important in understanding how visibility, invisibility and ethics are parts of the pervasive apparatus of political and economic hegemony. This paper also finds that the translucence of accountability policies, supposedly encompassing the pillars of professional propriety/integrity, might be encompassed within Offe's “procedural ethics”.

Social implications

The social implications of this paper involve the development of a public administration able to calibrate whether the fluxing of visibility/invisibility/ethics is constructive or destructive of social capital and legitimacy.

Originality/value

This paper concludes that a public administration solely focused on transparency not only misdirects attention and political resources, but also is actually self‐defeating, leaving citizens less informed and more subjugated than before.

Citation

Thorne, K., Kouzmin, A. and Johnston, J. (2012), "Shadows and disorder: ethics in “dark times”", Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 95-114. https://doi.org/10.1108/17574321211207999