Elmofty, Mohamed (2020) AcCOUNTability by numbers : neoliberal governmentality and the case of PMCs Iraq. (PhD thesis), Kingston University, .
Abstract
This thesis examines the impact of neoliberalism on the accountability of private military companies (PMCs), using the Iraq war as a case study and contextualising it within the work of Michel Foucault. The purpose of using Foucault’s work and applying a Foucauldian discourse analysis (FDA) is to demonstrate the transformation in the concept of accountability. The purpose of this thesis is to show that under neoliberalism, PMCs are not escaping accountability as the literature would suggest. Instead, the concept of accountability is renegotiated as a result of neoliberal logic that deciphers non-economic relations using free-market principles. In other words, democratic and legal accountability are transformed to accountability by numbers. By adhering to a certain code and scoring high on performance measurement standards, PMCs are considered accountable and behaving responsibly. This thesis’s contribution to original knowledge lies in the following idea: by outlining the essential elements of a Foucauldian analysis of neoliberalism and using it to analyse PMCs in Iraq, the research proposes that the existing literature on the accountability of PMCs, which suggests that they are not held accountable for their actions, misses a crucial point. It then offers new methods for holding them accountable. This is to say that the application of market values to judge non-market domains (security) ascribes a new meaning to accountability. Our methodological approach utilises FDA to analyse accountability from three different perspectives: accountability to the employer, accountability for the actions taken and, finally, accountability to the employees. The thesis devotes a separate chapter to each aspect and uses FDA to analyse how, in each case, accountability is renegotiated under neoliberalism. Extending that analysis to PMCs in Iraq shows two things that are in line with the events that took place during the 2003 war. First, even though there are some non-definitive guidelines for how PMCs should behave accompanied according to some rules and regulations, they were left with a form of self-regulation rather than operate under direct state command. Second, the way PMCs are held accountable for their actions as agents of the market is based on an economic approach that utilises performance-based assessment. By using metrics and scores to identify how well a contractor has abided by the code of conduct and determine accountability and liability, a form of non-democratic accountability through data analysis is established as part of the neoliberal mode of governance. With that, Foucault’s work demonstrates its limitations as it does not go beyond offering an excavation of the essence of neoliberalism and the evolution of the security apparatus.
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