The virtual moment

Following the traditions of ethnographic analysis, an account is given here of Best Value, the United Kingdom government's inspection of the services provided by municipalities and other local units of administration. My analysis is based largely upon the categories and terms used by the inspectorate itself. It is argued that in each of the main areas of inspection the results appear to contradict the intentions set out for the inspection. This appears to be the result of processes of abstraction which arise during the inspection. Such abstraction was located in the rise of jargon and bureaucracy as a result of the sheer scale of this audit, in the externalization of critical factors during market testing, in the emphasis on the representation of consulting over the results of consultation, and through the privileging of quantitative over qualitative information. Finally, the phrase 'owning the process' is analysed to show how the central ethos of serving the public is negated by these same forces. All these forms of abstraction are shown to occur despite, rather than because of the intentions of the inspectorate. In the conclusion, they are analysed as contradictions which arise as a result of forces that are described by a theory of Virtualism.