On 3 December, we will have a "life on-site star guest" from the USA: Caitlin Rosenthal, author of the Harvard bestseller "Accounting for Slavery"!

We are happy to invite you this evening discussion on the deep entanglements between slavery, management, and modern administrative practices. The event will centre on Caitlin Rosenthal’s influential book, Accounting for Slavery: Masters and Management (German edition: Sklaverei bilanzieren: Herrschaft und Management, Matthes & Seitz, Berlin, 2022), which traces how the plantation economy helped shape the foundations of modern business systems.

Rosenthal’s research reveals how tools such as accounting, auditing, monitoring, and performance tracking often considered hallmarks of industrial progress were first refined in the violent context of slavery-based economies. Her work opens crucial questions about the moral and historical dimensions of management and challenges us to reconsider how these legacies persist in today’s organizational cultures and administrative routines.

Through this dialogue, participants will be invited to reflect on the connections between historical systems of exploitation and contemporary structures of control:

- How have accounting and managerial practices inherited from slavery shaped modern institutions?

- What might it mean to decolonize data, management, and accountability in our current work?

This conversation aims to bridge historical inquiry and professional practice, fostering critical awareness and ethical reflection in the field of administration and development.

The event will begin with a 45 minute presentation accompanied by a panel discussion.

About the Speaker

Prof. Caitlin Rosenthal is Associate Professor of History and Associate Dean of Social Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research explores the evolution of data practices, information technologies, and labor management. Her award-winning book Accounting for Slavery: Masters and Management (2018) has been featured on NPR’s Marketplace, in the Harvard Business Review, and the New York Times’ 1619 Project. Before joining UC Berkeley, she was the Newcomen Fellow at Harvard Business School and a Business Associate at McKinsey & Company.

Contact

Valerie Viban – valerie.viban@ewde.de

Milda Bagdonaite – milda.bagdonaite@brot-fuer-die-welt.de 

The event is organized by Brot für die Welt in Cooperation with the Flying Accounting University, a program of Empacta e.V.