Historical Perspective of Structuration Theory: The Case of the Society for the Preservation of the Christian Art Monuments in Pavia (1875-1908)

Journal title CONTABILITÀ E CULTURA AZIENDALE
Author/s Michela Magliacani
Publishing Year 2020 Issue 2020/1
Language English Pages 24 P. 33-56 File size 219 KB
DOI 10.3280/CCA2020-001003
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

Introduction: This research is inspired by numerous stimuli from accounting studies under both structuration and historical perspectives. Giddens’ Structuration Theory based research calls for more investigations on the relationships between social structures and agents’ actions in a specific time-space context. However, accounting historians addressed research to explore the accounting system in a non-profit organisation operating between the sacred and the profane. The study of the Society for the Preservation of the Christian Art Monuments in Pavia (1875-1908) has allowed fulfilling these gaps, considering the rich accounting sources available at the Civic Historical Archive of Pavia. Aim: Prior literature has addressed the research to explore if and how accounting was involved in the evolution of the preservation of the Christian art monuments in Pavia (1875-1908). Their origin referred to the earlier Company of Holy Rosary (1577) with the mission to conduct solemn celebrations, using sacred music, against the plagues. These research questions have been investigated to widen knowledge on the accounting history of non-profit organisations with a philanthropic and religious purpose. Methodological Approach: The research methodology is based on a longitudinal case study: The Society for the Preservation of the Christian Art Monuments in Pavia (1875-1908). Upon examination of the archival sources, a reconstruction of the history of the Society based on the contextual, and institutional and organisational changes as been attempted. The Structuration Theory has been adopted to interpret the accounting sources. Moreover, the synchronic approach has enabled the development of critical analysis, considering the trend of accounting knowledge during the period of this study. Main Findings: The research findings highlight the traits of continuity and changes in accounting with the contextual and institutional or organisational evolution of the Society. Accounting has contributed to the resilience and relevance of this organisation. The traits of changes, connected to the structural dimensions of accounting, enabled the accountability of information on the Society. This legitimised its philanthropic mission and strengthened the accounting domination, secularly than ecclesiastic. The research highlights how the double facade of accounting guaranteed the Society’s resilience by fulfilling both technical and spiritual objectives during its long-existence. Originality: The Society for the Preservation of the Christian Art Monuments in Pavia has never been studied from the perspective of accounting history. This research bridges the gap in the history of the Society whose existence over the centuries has been questioned. From the Structuration Theory perspective, the study’s contribution to exploring the structural dimensions of accounting is still under-investigated also within the field of accounting history. Finally, the research findings open a new stream of historical investigation about accounting and resilience within non-profit organizations and in other settings.

Keywords: Moral entity, Christian art, structuration theory, accounting, social structure, resilience.

  1. Bigoni M., Gagliardo E. D., Funnell W. (2013). Rethinking the sacred and secular divide: Accounting and accountability practices in the Diocese of Ferrara (1431-1457). Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 26(4): 567-594.
  2. Booth P. (1993). Accounting in churches: A research framework and agenda. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 6(4): 37-67.
  3. Burns J., Hyvönen T., Järvinen J. Pellinen J. (2006). The role of standard software packages in mediating management accounting knowledge. Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, 3: 145-160.
  4. Busco C., Riccaboni A., and Scapens R. W. (2006). Trust for accounting and accounting for trust. Management Accounting Research, 17(1): 11-41.
  5. Carmona S., Ezzamel M. (2006). Accounting and religion: a historical perspective. Accounting History, 11(2): 117-127.
  6. Catturi G., Riccaboni A. (2001). Economia aziendale e teoria istituzionale: affinità concettuali e implicazioni operative per il controllo di gestione. Contabilità e Cultura aziendale, 1(2): 133-176.
  7. Conrad L. (2005). A structuration analysis of accounting systems and systems of accountability in the privatised gas industry. Critical perspectives on accounting, 16(1): 1-26.
  8. Di Pietra R., Baldi R. (2014). Importing and “refracting” accounting: traces in over a century of a long-lived Italian accounting journal. Contabilità e Cultura Aziendale, 14(2): 79-106.
  9. Englund H., Gerdin J. and Burns J. (2011). 25 years of Giddens in accounting research: achievements, limitations and the future. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 36(8): 494-513.
  10. Franchi G. (1934). Pavia che fu: La veneranda Compagnia del Santissimo Rosario e i concerti di musica sacra in Pavia. Ticinum, august, 22-27.
  11. Giddens A. (1981). Agency, institution, and time-space analysis. In: Knorr-Cetina K. and A. V. Cicouriel (Eds.). Advances in social theory and methodology. Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
  12. Giddens A. (1984). The constitution of society. Cambridge Polity Press.
  13. Giddens A. (1995). A contemporary critique of historical materialism. Stanford (California): Stanford University Press.
  14. Gomes D., Carnegie G. D., Napier C. J., Parker L. D., West B. (2011). Does accounting history matter?. Accounting History, 16(4): 389-402.
  15. Granlund M. (2001). Towards explaining stability in and around management accounting systems. Management accounting research, 12(2), 141-166.
  16. Gurd, B. (2008). Structuration and middle-range theory – A case study of accounting during organizational change from different theoretical perspectives. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 19(4): 523-543.
  17. Hassan M. K. (2005). Management accounting and organisational change: an institutional perspective. Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, 1(2): 125-140.
  18. Irvine H. (2005). Balancing money and mission in a local church budget. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 18(2): 211-237.
  19. Jack L. (2005). Stocks of knowledge, simplification and unintended consequences: the persistence of post-war accounting practices in UK agriculture. Management Accounting Research, 16(1): 59-79.
  20. Jack L. (2007). Accounting, post-productivism and corporate power in UK food and agriculture. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 18(8): 905-931.
  21. Jayasinghe K., Thomas D. (2009). The preservation of indigenous accounting systems in a subaltern community. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 22(3): 351-378.
  22. Leardini C., Rossi G. (2013). Accounting and power in religious institutions: Verona’s Santa Maria della Scala monastery in the Middle Ages. Accounting History, 18(3): 415-427.
  23. Macintosh N. B. and Scapens R. W. (1990). Structuration theory in management accounting. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 15(5): 455-477.
  24. Moggi S., Filippi V., Leardini C., Rossi G. (2016). Accountability for a place in heaven: A stakeholders’ portrait in Verona’s confraternities. Accounting History, 21(2-3): 236-262.
  25. Parker L.D. (1997). Informing historical research in accounting and management: Traditions, philosophies, and opportunities. The Accounting Historians Journal, 24(2): 111-149.
  26. Pierotti M., Capocchi A., Orlandini P. (2019). Mutual aid for arts in nineteenth-and twentieth-century Milan: The ‘Pio Istituto Teatrale’. Accounting History, 1-23.
  27. Quattrone P. (2004). Accounting for God: accounting and accountability practices in the Society of Jesus (Italy, XVI-XVII centuries). Accounting, organizations and society, 29(7): 647-683.
  28. Riccaboni A., Giovannoni E., Giorgi A., Moscadelli S. (2006). Accounting and power: evidence from the fourteenth century. Accounting History, 11(1): 41-62.
  29. Roberts J., Scapens R. (1985). Accounting systems and systems of accountability – understanding accounting practices in their organisational contexts. Accounting, organizations and society, 10(4): 443-456.
  30. Ruffini F. (1936). La classificazione delle persone giuridiche in Sinibaldo dei Fieschi. (Innocenzo IV) ed in Federico Carlo di Savigny. In: M. Falco, A.C. Jemolo, E. Ruffini (edited by). Scritti giuridici minori, vol. II, Milano: Giuffrè.
  31. Sankoji Y. (2020). Accounting and power in the society of Buddhism: An analysis of the income and expenditure reports of Toji Temple, 1427-1532. Accounting History, 25(1): 27-52.
  32. Servalli S. (2007). Il metodo e l’analisi sistemica nelle ricerche di Storia della Ragioneria. Contabilità e cultura aziendale, VII(2): 59-78.
  33. Uddin S., Tsamenyi M. (2005). Public sector reforms and the public interest: a case study of accounting control changes and performance monitoring in a Ghanaian state-owned enterprise. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 18(5): 648-674.
  34. Villa F. (1837), Manuale per la tenuta dei registri, ossia esposizione teorico-pratica del modo di tenere i registri a scrittura semplice e a scrittura doppia. Milano: Silvestri.
  35. Villa F. (1840, 1841). La contabilità applicata alle amministrazioni pubbliche ossia Elementi di scienze economico-amministrativi applicati alla tenuta dei registri ed alla compilazione e revisione dei rendiconti. Milano: Monti.
  36. Villa F. (1850, 1873). Elementi di Amministrazione e Contabilità. Pavia: Bizzoni.
  37. Zaffignani G. (1986), Documenti sulle origini della Società per la conservazione dei monumenti dell’arte cristiana (1577-1908), La pietra del San Michele: restauro e conservazione. Pavia: Tipografia Luigi Ponzio.

Michela Magliacani, Historical Perspective of Structuration Theory: The Case of the Society for the Preservation of the Christian Art Monuments in Pavia (1875-1908) in "CONTABILITÀ E CULTURA AZIENDALE" 1/2020, pp 33-56, DOI: 10.3280/CCA2020-001003