Accounting as a tool of state ideology to control captive workers from a House of Correction

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to interpret the use of accounting information relating to the House of Correction, a public safety institution established in Rio de Janeiro for the control of workers under a tutelage system (1831–1864). The aim of the House of Correction was to develop a disciplined workforce of former slaves and other “Free Africans”. Various control and information procedures were put in place to monitor its achievement of this goal. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on historical archival research, mainly conducted at the National Archive of Rio de Janeiro and at the Brazilian National Library. The study uses Althusser’s ideology concept and the Marxist concept of reproduction of labour to show how accounting information enabled the administrator of the House of Correction to exercise control over the “Free Africans” consistent with the ideologies of the period and place. Findings The authors find that the House of Correction pursued a policy of ensuring “Free Africans” were docile, obedient and familiar with State ideology. Research limitations/implications The research is based on a single case study and it shows the need for both comparative and interdisciplinary analysis in order to increase an understanding of the use of accounting information in ancient prison contexts, as well as in contemporary situations. Originality/value This paper extends our knowledge of the use of accounting for the control of workers, who were either captive or repressed due to their ethnical differences; and it shows how ideology can be imposed through the use of accounting information. The authors extend theory by applying the Marxist and Althusserian concept of reproduction of labour to the case of “Free Africans”.

Accounting history and theorising about organisations

“…The study identified two key organisational actors whose perspectives and actions reflected both their personal agendas and the historical and cultural setting in which they operated. [24] Silva, Rodrigues & Sangster (2019) investigated the use of accounting information in a 19 th century prison in Rio de Janeiro, particularly in relation to the control of captive prisoners and notionally "Free Africans" who were controlled as slave labourers. Their study employed Althusser's ideology concept and the Marxist based concept of labour reproduction to reveal prison administrator's employment of accounting information to control the "Free Africans" in compliance with the ideologies of that location and period.…”

Accounting and accountability practices in the obraje of San Ildefonso of Quito: An eighteenth century productive proto-capitalist model

“…In order to obtain more accurate control of production flows and workers and facilitate control, new accounting and accountability techniques were adopted. This facilitated the Spanish Government's goal to build a group of people measurable and governable at a distance (Foucault, 1991; Miller and Rose, 1990; Silva et al, 2019), creating records that could serve the interest of the Spanish Monarchy to reduce the costs of transactions and increase its revenues. To ensure its success, the technologies of management of the hacienda and the obraje were enforced by the adoption of a hierarchical structure within the company in a manner very similar to how this was being done in European textile mills of the time.…”

“Is it just a little flu”? Producing a news-based counter account on Covid-19 discursive crises in Brazil

“…Data from the United Nations shows a gendered and racialised crisis that finds pernicious grounds in a post-colonial Latin American context (Lotta et al, 2021). It implies recognising Brazilian slavery legacies and colonial state governmentality (Silva et al, 2019) that translates into different experiences based on intersectionality, that is, the differences that accumulate based on the interlocking of social labels (Akotirene, 2019;Crenshaw, 2002;Ribeiro, 2019).…”