Cereals, politics, and the role of accounting. The case of ‘Magnifica Patria’

Through the centuries, policymakers have paid particular attention to the provision of cereals. Thus, central and local governments adopted accounting technologies and calculative practices to control the flow of cereals, especially in times of famine and plague. Theoretically framed by ‘early governmentality’, this study explores accounting and calculative practices within a mercantilist dimension with a focus on disciplinary mechanisms in the ‘Magnifica Patria’, an area controlled by the Venetian Republic from the late-sixteenth to early-eighteenth centuries. This analysis contributes to the research on the interplay between accounting, the state, and local authorities in the government of food. It offers insights into how calculative practices, supported by accounting tools and disciplinary mechanisms, reshaped the conduct of grain market actors within a political domain crucial for maintaining social equilibrium.