Accounting for whom? Imperialism, capitalism and professionalisation in Mandate Palestine

The relationship between accounting and empire, and between accounting and capitalism, has attracted considerable scholarly attention. This article examines the intersections of these three forces – accounting, capitalism and imperialism – through the study of Jewish accountants in Mandate Palestine. It argues that the British authorities introduced legal accounting requirements modelled on their own economic context, but that these frameworks were ill-suited to the local economic realities of Palestine. The British colonial state and the commercial economy shaped a political-economic environment that hindered the development of a robust accounting profession. Within this context, Jewish accountants made repeated efforts to professionalise and legitimise their field, efforts that ultimately fell short. Through this case study, the article illustrates how the professionalisation of accounting was deeply entangled with both imperialist structures and capitalist transformations.