Cemeteries after Death: Accounting and Accountability for an Ethics of Survivance

Seminar summary

This study aligns with and extends the tradition of critical accounting studies by delving into the realm of accountability for the dead Other. Specifically, it examines this subject by addressing two key research questions: What are the characteristics of accountability to the dead Other? How does this accountability materialise within the organization and accounting systems of the cemetery space? Cemeteries materialize and symbolize our connection with death and the dead Other now and in the future (Francis, 2003). Consequently, we pose that an investigation into how we organise and account for the management of such places allows us to understand the multiple ways in which we become accountable to the Other (dead). In posing and addressing these questions, we draw upon the work of Derrida on death and the gift (1999, 1991, 2010, 2006). Derridian concepts such as specters, survivance, and the gift aid in our understanding of the paradoxes that arise in the context of cemeterial accounting, as illustrated in a case study of the Italian cemetery system. Our analysis reveals how an ethics of survivance materializes in the practices of organizing and accounting for the cemeterial space and services, at times leading to a diverse distribution of grievability (i.e., some dead Others are more ‘Others than Others’) (Butler, 2022; Levinas, 1961). Additionally, it elucidates how diverse understandings of accountability to the dead Other have evolved over time, shaping perceptions of cemeterial identity and the roles of those responsible for managing this intricate realm.

How to attend this seminar

We warmly welcome you to join us on our Colchester campus, room CTC.3.01 on Wednesday 18 October 2023 at 2pm.

This seminar is free to attend with no need to register in advance.

If you are unable to make it in person the seminar will be available to watch live online.

Speaker bio

Daniela Pianezzi

Daniela Pianezzi is Senior Lecturer in Organization Studies at the University of Verona, Italy. She is also visiting scholar at the University of Essex (UK) and at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna of Pisa. Her works have been published in various international journals, including Work, Employment and Society, Journal of Business Ethics, Critical perspectives on accounting and Human Relations. She is a member of the editorial committee for the Journal Organization and the Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies (JAEE), co-funder of the research centre RE-WOrk: Researching for REmaking Work and Organizing, and member of the Research Centre on the Politics and Theories of Sexuality – POLITESSE at the University of Verona.