Audit culture makes symbolic representations of work displace actual work

Evidence

Colonisation is when ”the values and practices which make auditing possible penetrate deep into the core of organizational operations, not just in terms of requiring energy and resources to conform to new reporting demands but in the creation over time of new mentalities, new incentives and perception of significance” (1997: 97). — Ève Chiapello, Financialisation of Valuation, 19 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Anxiety about falling standards in school examinations is now a regular feature of the summertime in Britain. Yet if students are less skilled and knowledgeable than their predecessors, this is due not to a decline in the quality of examinations per se, but to the fact that all of the teaching is geared towards passing the exams. Narrowly focused ‘exam drill’ replaces a wider engagement with subjects. Similarly, hospitals perform many routine procedures instead of a few serious, urgent operations, because this allows them to hit the targets they are assessed on (operating rates, success rates and reduction in waiting time) more effectively. — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, 93 (#builds-on, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Audit targets reshape institutional activity toward whatever is measured — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No…, 93; Audited work reshapes labor toward producing representations rather than outcomes — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No…, 91; Colonising metrics create new mentalities and incentives inside organisations, not just reporting burdens — Ève Chiapello, Financialisation of Valuation, 19 (+3 more)

Related

• Colonising metrics create new mentalities and incentives inside organisations, not just reporting burdens (similarity 0.89)
• Audited work reshapes labor toward producing representations rather than outcomes (similarity 0.87)
• Audit targets reshape institutional activity toward whatever is measured (similarity 0.86)
• Audited representation displaces actual performance as work’s real goal (similarity 0.85)
• Audit systems incentivize institutions to grade themselves lower than deserved (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Colonising metrics create new mentalities and incentives inside organisations, not just reporting burdens #corroborates (0.83) — Ève Chiapello, Financialisation of Valuation, 19