Page 188 - Mediterranea-ricerche storiche, n. 48, aprile 2020flip

188 Roberto Rossi

neutralise thefts, interruptions of work and disturbances . However,
38
reclusion alone was not enough to reach all disciplinary areas. The
separation of the space allowed the identification of individuals as a
function of the occupied space . Finally, coding allowed the
39
classification of individuals to generate «calculable persons in
calculable space» . In this sense, the “statisticalisation” of inmates
40
was the key tool to facilitate the observation of workers and the quality
of their work, admitting comparison and classification .
41

The Real Albergo dei Poveri of Palermo

The administrative organisation of the Real Albergo tasked three
deputies appointed by the General Lieutenant of the King and a Royal
Delegate (administrative superintendent), that responded directly to
the King, with overseeing all factory management decisions .
42
The three deputies coordinated the activity of the silk factory that
was settled within the Real Albergo. The technical direction of the
plant was assigned to an expert manager (a silk producer), while the
single production functions were supervised by specific controllers, as
reported in figure 2 . It is important to remember that control system
43
had a twofold purpose: re-education of (a)social people and,
meanwhile, extract labour from labour power valorising the job
process. The technical school for spooling and weaving settled within
the Real Albergo was the tool to implement the control on inmates (by
education discipline) and to valorise the work by technical education.
The inmates both male and female (as the projette: female orphans)
hosted in Real Albergo dei Poveri were obliged to work within the Real
Opificio delle Sete . Obviously, work would have been the pivotal
44

38 S. Carmona, F. Gutierrez, Outsourcing as compassion? The case of cigarette
manufacturing by poor Catholic nuns (1817–1819), «Critical Perspectives on Accounting»,
vol. 16, n. 7, 2005, pp. 875–903.
39 N. Macintosh, Accounting, accountants, and accountability: poststructuralist
positions, Routledge, London, 2002.
40 P. Miller, T. O’Leary, Accounting and the Construction of the Governable Person,
«Accounting, Organizations and Society», vol. 12, n. 3, 1987, p. 239.
41 K. Hoskin, R. Macve, Accounting and the Examination: A Genealogy of Disciplinary
Power, «Accounting, Organizations and Society», vol. 11, n. 2, 1986, pp. 105–136; Id.,
The Genesis of Accountability: The West Point Connections, Accounting, «Organizations
and Society», vol. 13, n. 1, 1988, pp. 37–73.
42 Asp, Rsi, vol. 5271.
43 Asp, Rsi, vol. 5272; R. Rossi, Poor government and work organisation in the Real
Albergo dei poveri of Palermo cit., pp. 57-59.
44 T. Dispenza, I problemi della produzione e del commercio della seta in Sicilia e la
Scuola pilota dell’Albergo dei Poveri di Palermo alla fine del Settecento cit., pp. 115-193.

Mediterranea - ricerche storiche - Anno XVII - Aprile 2020
ISSN 1824-3010 (stampa) ISSN 1828-230X (online)