Multiple rationalities of participatory budgeting in indigenous communities: evidence from Indonesia
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
ISSN: 0951-3574
Article publication date: 3 September 2020
Issue publication date: 4 November 2020
Abstract
Purpose
This paper analyses participatory budgeting (PB) in two Indonesian indigenous communities, illustrating how the World Bank sponsored neo-liberal model of “technical rational” PB is overshadowed by local values and wisdom, consisting of sophisticated, pre-existing rationalities for public participation.
Design/methodology/approach
Adopting a qualitative and interpretive case study approach, the study draws on data from semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders and periods of participant observation. The paper utilises Weber's characterisations of rationality to analyse the PB process in indigenous communities.
Findings
The co-existence of both formal (technical) and substantive rationalities leads two Indonesian indigenous communities to execute participatory budgeting pragmatically. The formal budgetary mechanisms (Musrenbang), cascaded down from central and local governments, are melded with, and co-exist alongside, a tradition of public participation deriving from local cultural values and wisdom (Rembug warga). Reciprocal relationships and trust based on a pre-existing substantive rationality result in community members adapting budget practices while also preserving their local culture and resisting the encroachment of neo-liberal initiatives. The paper offers deeper analysis of the unintended consequences of attempting to implement technical rational accounting reforms and practices in indigenous settings.
Originality/value
The paper provides important insights into the way the interplay between formal and substantive rationality impacts on accounting and budgeting practices in indigenous communities. Our study also presents a unique case in emerging economy contexts in which neoliberal initiatives have been outmanoeuvred in the process of preserving indigenous values and wisdom. The informal participatory mechanism (Rembug warga) retained the community trust that neoliberalism systematically erodes.
Keywords
Citation
Jayasinghe, K., Adhikari, P., Carmel, S. and Sopanah, A. (2020), "Multiple rationalities of participatory budgeting in indigenous communities: evidence from Indonesia", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 33 No. 8, pp. 2139-2166. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-05-2018-3486
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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