The THE ORGANIC RELATIONS BETWEEN STRUCTURE AND SUPERSTRUCTURE IN BRAZIL: CONTENT ANALYSIS FROM THE TEXTS OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND ANNUAL REPORTS OF BANCO DO BRASIL (1853-1902)

Abstract

This study analyzes the use of accounting as an ideological instrument with hegemonic purposes by the national dominant groups, showing the organic link between structure and superstructure in Brazil. For this purpose, we used the texts of Banco do Brasil's financial statements and annual reports between 1853 and 1902. As method, we carried out a critical historical study with a qualitative approach, through the Bardin's content analysis (1977) using primary documents, supported by the theories of Karl Marx and Antonio Gramsci. We identified the benefits and relationships for the holders of the means of production through the financing of coffee production, the (spurious) relationships between the government and the bank, through the institution's credit policy, slave labor, regulations and legislation that favored both. We conclude that the texts contained in the financial statements while instruments of ideological propagation point (i) the creation of the superstructure necessary for the structure, with the creation of the “reality” that coffee was a national good, for everyone and (ii) the isolation of disadvantaged classes and regions, especially those in the northern portion of Brazil.

Keywords: critical accounting; ideology; hegemony; structure; superstructure.