Accounting for public space

How is accounting implicated in the ordering of public space? Starting from the assumption that public space is that portion of an institutional field where, in part because of the participation of the media, there is relatively more openness in the flow of information and in the ability of field participants to engage in public discussion and debate, the study examines the relationship between accounting and public space in the context of educational reforms in Alberta, Canada. Using a variety of archival, conversational, interview and focus group data as well as the theoretical insights of Bourdieu and Foucault, the analysis highlights how the financial and accountability mechanisms used by the provincial government as part of its reform initiatives facilitated changes in the types and amounts of capital of certain field participants, encouraged the partitioning of generic social groupings such as parents and academic labour into more finely distinguished social groupings, and introduced new ways of saying and doing into the field. While these accounting and accountability changes were constraining on certain field participants they were also productive in that the new flows of accounting information created new opportunities within the field for certain field participants.