IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/crpeac/v99y2024ics1045235424000339.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A decolonial view of the role of accounting in the US management of the Spanish telephone monopoly

Author

Listed:
  • Pérez-Chamorro, Vicente
  • Casasola-Balsells, Araceli
  • Gutiérrez-Hidalgo, Fernando

Abstract

Latin American decolonial thinking offers an alternative perspective to modern Western thought for the analysis of the role of accounting in relations of power, economic domination, knowledge and subjectivity in corporate capitalism. By applying a decolonial perspective, this paper contributes to previous literature on how conflicting public and private economic interests shape and are shaped by accounting practices. In particular, it analyses the role of accounting in the web of domination and power relations of a foreign company involved in the private management of a monopoly. To that end, it examines the historical case of the private management of the Spanish telephone monopoly at a time when the Spanish concessionary company was a subsidiary of the US multinational, International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation. The analysis of the case shows that the accounting was embedded within a geopolitical system of knowledge that strengthened a colonial matrix of power resulting in the domination of US capital over the Spanish state. This research contributes to a better understanding of how the colonial matrix of power operates through the subalternisation of the population not only in the Global South but also in Europe, imposing the rhetoric of modernity (conversion, progress and development) and exporting it to other latitudes by claiming its universality.

Suggested Citation

  • Pérez-Chamorro, Vicente & Casasola-Balsells, Araceli & Gutiérrez-Hidalgo, Fernando, 2024. "A decolonial view of the role of accounting in the US management of the Spanish telephone monopoly," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:99:y:2024:i:c:s1045235424000339
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2024.102734
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1045235424000339
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.cpa.2024.102734?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tony Tinker & Marilyn Neimark & Cheryl Lehman, 1991. "Falling down the Hole in the Middle of the Road: Political Quietism in Corporate Social Reporting," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 4(2), pages 1-1, June.
    2. Tinker, Anthony M., 1980. "Towards a political economy of accounting: An empirical illustration of the cambridge controversies," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 147-160, January.
    3. Hopper, Trevor & Lassou, Philippe & Soobaroyen, Teerooven, 2017. "Globalisation, accounting and developing countries," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 125-148.
    4. Beatriz Santos-Cabalgante & Beatriz García Osma & Domi Romero Fúnez, 2019. "Accounting quality in railway companies during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: the case of Spanish NORTE and MZA," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(3), pages 271-304, April.
    5. Pablo Archel & Javier Husillos & Carlos Larrinaga & Crawford Spence, 2009. "Social disclosure, legitimacy theory and the role of the state," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(8), pages 1284-1307, October.
    6. Adoración Álvaro Moya, 2011. "Hízose el milagro. La inversión directa estadounidense y la empresa española (c. 1900-1975)," Investigaciones de Historia Económica - Economic History Research (IHE-EHR), Journal of the Spanish Economic History Association, Asociación Española de Historia Económica, vol. 7(03), pages 358-368.
    7. Gómez-Villegas, Mauricio & Larrinaga, Carlos, 2023. "A critical accounting project for Latin America? Objects of knowledge or ways of knowing," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    8. Tony Tinker & Marilyn Neimark, 1988. "The Struggle Over Meaning in Accounting and Corporate Research: A Comparative Evaluation of Conservative and Critical Historiography," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 1(1), pages 55-74, June.
    9. Abdelrehim, Neveen & Maltby, Josephine & Toms, Steven, 2012. "Accounting for power and control: The Anglo-Iranian oil nationalisation of 1951," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 23(7), pages 595-607.
    10. Jeffrey Unerman, 2003. "Enhancing Organizational Global Hegemony with Narrative Accounting Disclosures: An Early Example," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(4), pages 425-448, December.
    11. Lassou, Philippe Jacques Codjo & Hopper, Trevor, 2016. "Government accounting reform in an ex-French African colony: The political economy of neocolonialism," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 39-57.
    12. Maltby, Josephine & Tsamenyi, Mathew, 2010. "Narrative accounting disclosure: Its role in the gold mining industry on the Gold Coast 1900–1949," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 390-401.
    13. Uche, Chinyere & Khalid, Sharif, 2022. "Corporate reporting on conflict: A struggle over land," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    14. Tinker, Tony & Neimark, Marilyn, 1987. "The role of annual reports in gender and class contradictions at general motors: 1917-1976," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 71-88, January.
    15. Cleia Maria da Silva & Fernanda Filgueiras Sauerbronn & Michel Thiollent, 2022. "Decolonial Studies, Non-Extractive Methods, and Participatory Action Research in Accounting," RAC - Revista de Administração Contemporânea (Journal of Contemporary Administration), ANPAD - Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração, vol. 26(4), pages 210014-2100.
    16. Bakre, Owolabi M., 2008. "Financial reporting as technology that supports and sustains imperial expansion, maintenance and control in the colonial and post-colonial globalisation: The case of the Jamaican economy," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 487-522.
    17. Cameron Graham, 2009. "Accounting and subalternity: enlarging a research space," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(3), pages 309-318, March.
    18. Dean Neu, 2003. "Accounting for the Banal: Financial Techniques as Softwares of Colonialism," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Anshuman Prasad (ed.), Postcolonial Theory and Organizational Analysis: A Critical Engagement, chapter 0, pages 193-212, Palgrave Macmillan.
    19. Little, Douglas J., 1979. "Twenty Years of Turmoil: ITT, The State Department, and Spain, 1924–1944," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 53(4), pages 449-472, December.
    20. Cooper, David, 1980. "Discussion of towards a political economy of accounting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 161-166, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sauerbronn, Fernanda Filgueiras & Ayres, Rosângela Mesquisa & da Silva, Cleia Maria & Lourenço, Rosenery Loureiro, 2024. "Decolonial studies in accounting? Emerging contributions from Latin America," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    2. Hopper, Trevor & Lassou, Philippe & Soobaroyen, Teerooven, 2017. "Globalisation, accounting and developing countries," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 125-148.
    3. Hooks, Jill & Stewart, Ross, 2015. "The changing role of accounting: From consumers to shareholders," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 86-101.
    4. Napier, Christopher J., 2006. "Accounts of change: 30 years of historical accounting research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(4-5), pages 445-507.
    5. Jonsson, Sten & Macintosh, Norman B., 1997. "CATS, RATS, AND EARS: Making the case for ethnographic accounting research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 22(3-4), pages 367-386.
    6. Muzanenhamo, Penelope & Power, Sean Bradley, 2024. "ChatGPT and accounting in African contexts: Amplifying epistemic injustice," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    7. Chabrak, Nihel & Craig, Russell, 2013. "Student imaginings, cognitive dissonance and critical thinking," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 91-104.
    8. Masrani, Swapnesh & McKiernan, Peter, 2011. "Accounting as a legitimising device in voluntary price agreements: The Dundee jute industry, 1945–1960," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 415-433.
    9. Lassou, Philippe J.C. & Hopper, Trevor & Tsamenyi, Mathew & Murinde, Victor, 2019. "Varieties of neo-colonialism: Government accounting reforms in Anglophone and Francophone Africa – Benin and Ghana compared," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    10. Ferguson, John & Collison, David & Power, David & Stevenson, Lorna, 2009. "Constructing meaning in the service of power: An analysis of the typical modes of ideology in accounting textbooks," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 20(8), pages 896-909.
    11. Uche, Chinyere & Khalid, Sharif, 2022. "Corporate reporting on conflict: A struggle over land," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    12. Neu, Dean & Saxton, Greg & Rahaman, Abu & Everett, Jeffery, 2019. "Twitter and social accountability: Reactions to the Panama Papers," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 38-53.
    13. Killian, Sheila, 2010. "“No accounting for these people”: Shell in Ireland and accounting language," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(8), pages 711-723.
    14. Jayasinghe, Kelum & Adhikari, Pawan & Soobaroyen, Teerooven & Wynne, Andy & Malagila, John & Abdurafiu, Noah, 2021. "Government accounting reforms in Sub-Saharan African countries and the selective ignorance of the epistemic community: A competing logics perspective," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    15. Kimani, Danson & Ullah, Subhan & Kodwani, Devendra & Akhtar, Pervaiz, 2021. "Analysing corporate governance and accountability practices from an African neo-patrimonialism perspective: Insights from Kenya," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    16. Lassou, Philippe J.C. & Hopper, Trevor & Ntim, Collins, 2021. "How the colonial legacy frames state audit institutions in Benin that fail to curb corruption," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    17. repec:dau:papers:123456789/3828 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Husillos, Javier, 2023. "Is critique sustainable? A commentary on Bigoni and Mohammed," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    19. Constable, Philip & Kuasirikun, Nooch, 2020. "From cosmological to commercial form: A Buddhist theory of ‘form’, ‘space’ and ‘stream of re-becoming’ in mid-19th century Thai accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    20. Ala, Alessandro S. & Lapsley, Irvine, 2019. "Accounting for crime in the neoliberal world," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(5).
    21. Rahaman, Abu Shiraz, 2010. "Critical accounting research in Africa: Whence and whither," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 420-427.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:99:y:2024:i:c:s1045235424000339. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/critical-perspectives-on-accounting/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.