Daniela Pianezzi

Assessing the validity of accounting for human rights: a pragmatic constructivist perspective

Purpose This paper aims to focus on accounting for human rights. It explores the validity of conflicting theoretical perspectives on accounting and their ability to reduce the gap between accounting and accountability for human rights. Design/methodology/approach This study relies on the notion of topos to develop a pragmatic constructivist perspective on conventional accounting and social accounting with respect to human rights. Applying pragmatic constructivism permits a better understanding and assessment of the ethics underpinning the conventional and social accounting approaches. Findings The ethics underpinning the topos of conventional accounting offer a reductive explanation of the agency of organizational actors, so inhibiting moral and social responsibility. Furthermore, the calculative logic that dominates this topos promotes a monovocal form of communication (to shareholders) and translates values per se into instrumental values. By contrast, the social accounting topos sheds new light on the role that accounting may play in detecting human rights violations, by focusing more on communication and social values. However, for this topos to be valid, alternative management practices that go beyond voluntary social reporting need to be further developed. Originality/value Human rights accountability is an urgent challenge for companies in today’s society. However, scholars have largely disregarded the role of accounting in the process of holding companies accountable for human rights violations. By questioning the relationship between accounting and human rights, this paper takes a first step towards resolving this issue.

The new public corruption: Old questions for new challenges

Highlights • The study focuses on corruption and accountability in public procurement.Fig. 1 Survey question: How widespread do you think the problem of corruption is in your country? (%). Source: Eurobarometer TI (2015). Fig. 2 Survey question: How widespread do you think corruption in public procurement managed by national authorities is in your country (%)? Source: Eurobarometer TI (2015).Fig. 3 The role of the state in modern democracy. Source: Own elaboration.• We provide a case analysis about an episode of corruption in Italy.• The analysis shows the limitations of the legalistic and neoliberal approaches to corruption.• Traditional political accountability is not enough for democratic empowerment.• The virtue of autonomy of public servant plays a pivotal role in the fight against corruption. Abstract This paper focuses on corruption in public procurement. It describes the contemporary face of corruption by investigating the role of public accountability in the fight against corruption. The paper describes a specific episode of corruption relative to the awarding of government contracts for big events, such as the celebration of the 150th anniversary of Italian unification. Relying on the philosophical insights of Rousseau, Popper, Kant and others, the study suggests the need for enabling a democratic control and constructing a public ethics for the common good.

Corruption in migration management: a network perspective

This article explores the relation between networks as an emerging mode of public governance and corruption. Adopting the theoretical lens of actor-network theory, the article investigates an Italian episode of corruption related to the awarding of government contracts for the management of Mineo’s CARA, Europes largest reception centre for migrants. The analysis shows that a governance network may turn corruption itself into a network where abuse of power can proliferate thanks to the opacity resulting from the multiplicity of actors, interactions and fragmentation characterizing the governance system. Points for practitioners The article develops an analysis useful to foster the effectiveness of anti-corruption strategies by analysing the criticalities of the governance system implemented by the Italian government to deal with migration inflows. In so doing, the article offers relevant insights to policymakers and national and European institutions.