Scenarios in anthropology: reflections on possible futures of the Suriname Maroons

Traditional concern with social change requires anthropologists to analyze linkages between past, present, and possible future events. Anthropological methods can contribute to speculation about the future because they incorporate what most extrapolations and forecasts lack: (1) uncertainty and surprise, (2) people’s own mental models of the future, and (3) a detailed understanding of specific cultures and the diversity within these cultures. The author argues that Scenario Planning is a useful method that allows ethnographic data to be used for thinking about the future. Scenarios are stories about possible, alternative futures that incorporate human diversity and uncertainty. How Scenario Planning works as an analytical and policy tool is explained and then demonstrated with the example of forest peoples in Suriname, called Maroons. Qualitative data from anthropological fieldwork is used to reveal Maroon perspectives on the future; identify driving forces that might influence their future; and speculate about the different directions these forces may go. Two scenarios are presented and their implications discussed. The article concludes with reflections on the advantages and disadvantages of Scenario Planning as a method in anthropology, and on the contribution that anthropology can make to development policy that envisions and plans for alternative, surprising futures.     

Resocialing work? Anticipatory anthropology of the labor process

My research focuses on the possible future transformations of work in the increasingly dominant computer-technology-based work environment. I surmise that one characteristic that future work might take the form of is a renewed and expanded “sociality”, in which co-operation, self-management, and qualitative social interaction are fostered to counter the potentially isolating computer-mediated environment. Since the advantage of such new technologies is also their opposite capacity to expand communication, one must encourage more communication to make use of these capabilities. Although I am somewhat skeptical about the current climate of cyberenthusiasm, I recognize that, as ethnographers, we need to take these speculations seriously and, where possible, participate actively in the creation of the kinds of futures which we prefer. I have taken a participant–observation approach to the study of “proto-cyberspace” venues which are widely seen as suggestive of the social relations of a future new social formation. I begin this essay by analyzing the argument for the resocialing hypothesis, then consider the opposite arguments which see a degradation of social relations in the work environment. Data have been derived primarily from my studies of automated information technology-mediated labor processes in the USA, the UK, and the Nordic countries.     

Anticipatory anthropology and world peace: a view from 2050

Norman Geras has written a searing indictment of current first-world policies related to our roles in keeping the world peace and our abilities to respond to human rights violations. This paper is partly a response to Geras's book, The contract of mutual indifference: politics since the Holocaust. Thus, genocide is the peace issue I will discuss here. I will use Bosnia, because I have had two occasions to work there and have talked with Bosnians from all walks of life as well as the humanitarian agents there to help them. Second, the paper will define the character of a fully responsive anticipatory anthropology and I will sketch out the nature of some possible peace futures. A third main purpose of this paper is to contribute to the development of the social science of peace.     

Performance measurement: The state of the art

Measuring performance is a complex subject, but one which practitioners in the public sector need to get to grips with. What follows is a reader's guide to the available literature and suggestions as to how this should be approached.     

Accounting internships: The state of the art

This paper reports the results of an investigation into the “state of the art” in the use, administration and operation of accounting internship programs. Data was collected via a questionnaire from 153 institutions concerning their use of student internships. These responses were used to determine the extent to which student internships are currently incorporated into the accounting curriculum. Forty-seven institutions stated they did not sponsor student internships and identified the reasons underlying their decision. One hundred and six schools reported offering internships and provided information concerning the administration and operation of their programs.     

Global 2000: Radar for the ship of state

The way the US Global 2000 report has (and, especially, has not) been reacted to and publicly debated illustrates many fundamental problems in developing workable and efficient radar for the ship of state. The text and footnotes draw attention to eg conflicting assumptions in different agencies, or the superficial but unchallenged criticisms of analyses by senior government officials. Many important principles are not even addressed.     

Theories of the state and the state of accounting: Economic reductionism and political voluntarism in accounting regulation theory

It has recently been suggested that the inability of the economics-finance literature to say anything definitive about the appropriate form of accounting regulation highlights the need to augment neoclassical economic analysis with sociopolitical considerations. It is argued in this paper that patching up the orthodox theory would be futile; that the flaws are so fundamental as to warrant abandoning neoclassical state theory and embarking on a serious debate about radical theoretical alternatives. Economic reductionism and political voluntarism are shown to be the main flaws in the neoclassical theory, and these deficiencies are primarily responsible for the present theoretical disarray. After a brief overview of radical theories of the state, this paper suggests that replacing—not refurbishing—neoclassical state theory is the most plausible strategy for accounting researchers.     

Moments of greatness: entering the fundamental state of leadership

When we do our best work as leaders, we don't imitate others. Rather, we draw on our own values and capabilities. We enter what author Robert Quinn calls the fundamental state of leadership. This is a frame of mind we tend to adopt when facing a significant challenge: a promotion opportunity, the risk of professional failure, a serious illness, a divorce, the death of a loved one, or any other major life jolt. Crisis calls, and we rise to the occasion. But we don't need to spend time in the dark night of the soul to reach this fundamental state. We can make the shift at any time by asking ourselves-and honestly answering--four transformative questions: Am I results centered? (Am I willing to leave my comfort zone to make things happen?) Am I internally directed? (Am I behaving according to my values rather than bending to social or political pressures?) Am I other focused? (Am I putting the collective good above my own needs?) Am I externally open? (Am I receptive to outside stimuli that may signal the need for change?) When we can answer these questions in the affirmative, we're prepared to lead in the truest sense. Of course, we can't sustain the fundamental state of leadership indefinitely. Fatigue and external resistance pull us out of it. But each time we reach it, we then return to our everyday selves a bit more capable, and we usually boost the performance of the people around us. Over time, we create a high-performance culture--and that can be sustained.     

Management accounting and the state: Making sense of complexity

This special issue is devoted to management accounting in government (central and local). It presents a series of studies in a wide range of countries which underscores the international importance of this as an area of research. This foreword seeks to establish why this area of research is of such importance and to point to areas where further investigation is merited.     

Accounting and the welfare state: The missing link

In recent years, nation states have internationalized and privatized accounting regulation by extensive use of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). However, major differences between national accounting regulatory systems persist. In this paper we argue that a country's societal motives and values, best captured by the type of welfare state the country employs, shape the extent to which accounting regulations converge. Moreover, the welfare state approach explains the development and dynamics of accounting systems more completely than the conventional explanatory variables – legal and financial systems.The connection between the welfare state type and the way in which various corporate constituencies’ interests are balanced is first examined by constructing an ideal type of accounting regulation for each type of welfare state; then country case studies are examined to show how the welfare state explains differences in accounting regulation between countries.     

The privatization of British Energy: Risk transfer and the state

Following the development of the New Right Agenda, Conservative Governments in Britain introduced incrementally an extensive privatization programme. This paper focuses on the failure of the last privatization of the Conservatives: British Energy, the company established to run the eight most modern nuclear power stations. A key argument used to justify the privatization of British Energy, the transfer of risk from the state to the private sector, is analyzed using the conceptual framework of the risk society thesis. The privatization led to the apparent transfer to the company of interrelated risks, particularly the nuclear liabilities risk. New Labor’s rescue of British Energy confirmed the reality, which was that residual responsibility for risk, especially the nuclear liabilities risk, remained with government. Despite the company’s collapse the Labor Government sought a market-based outcome, and in 2008 British Energy was sold to EDF, the French state-owned energy company. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the failure of risk transfer for public policy, drawing on insights provided by the risk society thesis.     

Costly state verification and multiple investors: the role of seniority

Many financial claims specify fixed maximum payments, varyingseniority, and absolute priority for more senior investors.These features are motivated in a model where a firm's managercontracts with several investors and firm output can only beverified privately at a cost. Debt-like contracts of varyingseniority generally dominate symmetric contracts, and, wheninvestors are risk neutral, it is optimal to use debt-like contractswhere more senior claims have absolute priority over more juniorclaims. In addition to motivating several features of debt andpreferred stock, the model offers an explanation for structuresused in leveraged buyouts, asset-backed securitizations, andreinsurance contracts.     

Shrinking the quango state: five challenges in reforming quangos

Some problems of governance regularly resurface, and the use and role of ‘quangos’— public bodies operating at arm's-length to ministers—is a case in point. The administrative history of the British state is littered with official reviews and political debates about quangos. Historically, governments, whatever their reforming zeal, have found it difficult to make substantial changes. Now the UK government has initiated a rapid and large-scale set of reforms. This article analyses these changes and highlights five challenges for governments wishing to reform arm's-length bodies: mapping, assessing, reconfiguring, saving, and accounting.     

Migration and the welfare state: The economic power of the non-voter?

This paper investigates the impact of emigration on the political choice of the size of the welfare state. Mobility has two countervailing effects: the political participation effect and the tax base effect. With emigration, the composition of the constituency changes. This increases the political influence of the less mobile part of the population. But the new political majority then also has to take into account that emigration reduces tax revenues and thereby affects the feasible set of redistribution policies. We find that the direction of the total effect of migration depends on the initial income distribution in the economy. Our results also contribute to the empirical debate on the validity of the median-voter approach in cross-country studies for explaining the relation between income inequality and redistribution levels. JEL Classification F22 · H50 · D31 · D72