The rich, the poor and the plague. Accounting for poverty in 17th-century Florence

Purpose. The paper analyses the role of accounting in giving rise to a specific configuration of poverty defined by moral evaluation and behavioural discipline. It does so by focusing on the 17th-century Grand Duchy of Tuscany when it was hit by a deadly plague.

Design/methodology/approach. The study combines the work of Foucault on early forms of governmentality and Simmel’s understanding of poverty as a relational phenomenon to investigate the use of charitable aid and accounting practices in tackling poverty at a time of great crisis.

Findings. Interventions enabled by accounting tools sought to stop the spread of the disease whilst using aid to manage the behaviour of the poor. Although they helped the poor to survive, such interventions did not change their circumstances. Whilst ostensibly targeting the poor, charity and related accounting practices served the interests of rich elites and the community at large by helping to maintain the existing social order, which was threatened by the plague.

Research implications. By focusing on an original early modern context, when the first forms of structured aid offered by the State started to develop, the paper documents how accounting can help to shape a new conception of poverty, one where the poor is to be integrated in society and managed in the interest of the latter, consistent with the values of the ruling elites.

Originality/value. Unlike most research that has problematised the relationship between accounting and poverty, the paper does not focus on practices which sought to minimise the cost of aid, stigmatise the poor or ensure a steady flow of revenue for charities. It shows how, despite their altruistic goal, charity and related accounting practices can be a means to align charitable intervention with broader strategies of social regulation.