Paper short abstract:

The paper discusses the cultural logics of various forms of "audit culture" and the circulating ideologies (excellence, quality, self-enhancement etc.) that foster the emergence of a new cultural figuration - a competitive self.

Paper long abstract:

In many spheres of our everyday life, social actors compete against another. They compete for resources, different forms of capital, merit, honor etc. Today, competition as a specific and often ritualized mode of interaction seems to shape social relations in many ways. Competitive formats - such as rankings, listings, evaluations etc. - are discursively negotiated, but they are also materialized in performances and texts, in codified rules, in lists, certificates, medals etc.

From a conceptual point of view this paper will explore how competitive logics work, how they are translated into concrete cultural performances and which ideological backgrounds influence this process. Additionally the paper asks which actors shape competitive practices (as well as discourses about these practices) and how the concerned actors interpret their own roles within competitive webs of meaning. Finally the presentation will critically discuss the role of cultural anthropological research in identifying the circulating ideologies (e.g. excellence, quality, self-enhancement etc.) that foster the emergence of a new cultural figuration - a competitive self.