RT journal article
T1 Accounting for the male domination through legislative empowerment of upper-middle class women in the early 19th century Spain
A1 Capelo Bernal, María Dolores
A1 Araujo Pinzón, Pedro
A1 Funnel, Warwick
A2 Economía Financiera y Contabilidad
K1 Gender
K1 Spain
K1 Household accounting
K1 Langton-Dillón family
K1 Patriarchy
AB Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address both the neglect of non-Anglo-centric accountinggendered practices beyond the predominant professional setting and the controversial roles of women and accounting in power relationships inside the household. Analyzing a Spanish upper-middle class Catholic family in the early nineteenth century, the research focuses on the reciprocal interaction of accounting with practices and processes of daily life in a rigid patriarchal socio-cultural and juridical context.Design/methodology/approach – This microhistory draws upon several archives, including in Spain theArchivo Histórico Provincial de Cádiz. In England, the Bath Record Office has preserved documents andcorrespondence, both personal and business related, and the Worcester Record Office preserved notarial documents concerning the family. The large number of letters which have survived has facilitated an in-depth study of the people who were affected by accounting calculations.Findings – In a juridical context where women were conceived as merely the means for the circulation of property between two families, the evidence shows that accounting provided the proof of women’s patrimony value and the means to facilitate their recovery in this cosification process. Although women had a little involvement in the household’s accounting and management, they demonstrated confidence in accounting, fulfilling a stewardship function for the resources received. Also, evidence shows that by using accounting practices to shield supposedly defenseless women, this reinforced male domination over women and promoted the view that the role of women was as an ornament and in need of a good husband.Originality/value – Contrasting with the Anglo-Saxon contemporary context, the Spanish law preserved awoman’s property rights, guaranteeing recovery of properties owned by her before marriage should themarriage be legally annulled or be dissolved because one of the spouses’ death. This required a detailedaccounting of the wife’s properties brought to her marriage, most especially regarding the dowry provided by her family.
PB Emerald Publishing
SN 0951-3574
YR 2018
FD 2018
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/34415
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/34415
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 10-nov-2026