We are protecting your health: Accounting for biopower during the Spanish Flu in the town of Monza
Journal title CONTABILITÀ E CULTURA AZIENDALE
Author/s Andrea Fontanella, Alessandro Paolo Rigamonti, Maria Rita Pierotti, Francesco Bianchi
Publishing Year 2026 Issue 2025/2
Language English Pages 26 P. 35-70 File size 302 KB
DOI 10.3280/CCA2025-002003
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Introduction: The paper investigates the functioning of the accounting system in the town of Monza during the Spanish Flu pandemic (1918-1920). Objectives: This paper aims to demonstrate that accounting played a pivotal role in exercising biopower and substituting traditional information tools during the pandemic. Methodology: This paper adopts a qualitative methodology, drawing on both primary and secondary sources. Main findings: Accounting was used as an information tool to share information across different organizations, helping the government decide on the next stages of pandemic management. At the same time, accounting was used to influence people’s behavior by compelling them to adhere to the measures that characterized the biopolitical apparatus. Originality: To the best of our knowledge, no contributions analyze the Spanish Flu pandemic through biopolitical lenses in a small-scale context such as the town of Monza. Moreover, this paper offers an original analysis of the role of accounting as an information tool.
Keywords: biopower, Monza, hospital, information, Spanish flu, accounting history
Andrea Fontanella, Alessandro Paolo Rigamonti, Maria Rita Pierotti, Francesco Bianchi, We are protecting your health: Accounting for biopower during the Spanish Flu in the town of Monza in "CONTABILITÀ E CULTURA AZIENDALE" 2/2025, pp 35-70, DOI: 10.3280/CCA2025-002003