A qualitative and interpretive approach was adopted, based on primary archival sources. The analysis is based on the accounting records contained in the accounting books, Livros de Receitas e Despesas do Tesoureiro-Mor and the Livros Mestre, as well as on the anti-Jesuit propaganda narratives expressed in Relação Abreviada and Erros Ímpios e Sediciosos, and on the document analysis of the second volume of the Coleção dos Negócios de Roma.
The results of the three essays demonstrate that the expulsion of the Society of Jesus from Portugal and its subsequent suppression in the 18th century were consciously and systematically achieved through three complementary dimensions: economic, political, and administrative. Taken together, this study shows how Accounting, Propaganda, and internal Rationality functioned as instruments of Pombal’s governance, ensuring coherence, legitimacy, and social control.
This study contributes to the literature by analysing the governance processes of the Jesuit case by the Portuguese State from an accounting perspective. It highlights accounting as a strategic instrument essential for controlling and managing processes characterised by conflicts rooted in power struggles. It also demonstrates the relevance of accounting in its narrative form, both as a symbolic management tool for shaping perceptions and as a technology of governance whose rationality underpins a system of internal communication and strategic planning grounded in detailed and elucidative information.
Additionally, propaganda, as a form of communication, proves effective in the symbolic management of delegitimization campaigns against rival organisations and in the implementation of reforms with potential to generate social tensions.
The doctoral thesis was supervised by Delfina Gomes and Fernanda Leão, lecturers in the Department of Management at the School of Economics, Management and Political Science, University of Minho.
The EEG congratulates Filipa Joana Silva on her defence and wishes her every success in her professional and personal life!
