Agents of dispossession and acculturation : Edinburgh accountants and Highland clearances [journal article]
Walker, Stephen P.2003
Books, Manuscripts
The widespread eviction and emigration of Highland Gaels during the 18th and 19th centuries retains a central place in Scottish history. The role of accountants in these events has seldom been recognised. The paper reveals that in their capacity as trustees on insolvent estates, eminent Edinburgh accountants ordered some of the most notorious clearances of the mid-19th century. Accountants dispossessed substantial numbers of crofters on grounds of economic rationality and the need to assimilate a 'backward race' into the capitalist economy. While their decision-making resulted in suffering among those evicted, accountants amassed substantial economic and social capital from their service to the landed class and their creditors, and did so during a key period in their professionalisation.
Main title:
Author:
Imprint:
Elsevier Science Ltd, 2003
Collation:
pp 813 - 853 ; 30 cm
Series title:
Critical Perspectives on Accounting ; Volume 14, 2003
ISSN:
1045-2354
Language:
English