The Specter and Reality of Corruption in State and Civil Society: Privatizing and Auditing Poor Relief in Turkey

Based on ethnographic and archival research conducted at the headquarters of the non-governmental association Deniz Feneri [Lighthouse] Aid and Solidarity Association (DF) in Istanbul and its local branch in Izmir, Turkey, this article aims to add to the literature on accountability and corruption by critically examining technologies of accountability and transparency foregrounded by DF to counter possible corruption allegations against the association. Through an ethnographic study of various governance processes, the study aims to reach a comprehension of both corruption and accountability experienced and discussed as social practice. The research points to the fact that the overarching concern over corruption and accountability should be seen not as a reaction to the neoliberal agenda of deregulation and privatization favored by the government but as the neoliberal agenda reasserting itself through “good governance” and “audit culture” in an effort to ensure the public's and donors' trust in the effectiveness of neoliberal accountability as the poor are continuously categorized and made visible.