(Job)Keeping up appearances
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
ISSN: 0951-3574
Article publication date: 29 April 2021
Issue publication date: 23 July 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to critique the Australian Government's JobKeeper scheme and demonstrate how accounting rationalities were intertwined with the process of governing the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
Adopting a Foucauldian perspective, the authors make use of public discourse to draw attention to the centrality of accounting and quantitative techniques that were used to support government interventions during the pandemic.
Findings
The authors show that accounting numbers, techniques and quantitative information were mobilised by the government as a way of formulating and implementing the JobKeeper scheme, a program designed to minimise the economic impacts of COVID-19.
Originality/value
The authors demonstrate the centrality of accounting concepts as a rhetorical device and their use by government in times of crisis.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful for the constructive and helpful comments provided by the anonymous reviewers on earlier versions of the paper. In addition, the authors thank the special issue editors for their support, insights and suggestions.
Citation
Nikidehaghani, M. and Cortese, C. (2021), "(Job)Keeping up appearances", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 34 No. 6, pp. 1502-1512. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-08-2020-4862
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited