Cultural context
REA Accounting theory, the ValueFlows protocol and the many case studies which have experimented with these frameworks have been the product of a wide array of contributors over many generations.
We acknowledge and celebrate this diversity, whilst also acknowledging that the roots of these works originate in Western tertiary institutions and Industrial modes of thought. It is our belief that the application of REA principles has far-reaching consequences beyond Colonial ideals and contexts, but if we are to be in service to this goal then we must be transparent about our cultural backgrounds and influences, and open to suggestion and input from others.
This document serves to briefly outline some of this history. It was originally sourced in late 2019 from a list of 23 contributors and influencers that its instigator had existing personal & professional connections with (not all of whom responded), and continues to be added to by anyone who feels themselves to be a part of this collective undertaking and moved to contribute. It is in no particular order- precedence does not indicate priority, and bickering over what is most important to show here is a pointless use of energy. It is also unfiltered- some responses might carry cultural presuppositions with them that are problematic to some readers; but they are here for their 'realness' and not their relative display of awareness. Asking us to do better or for other things to be made visible is welcomed- please file an issue if you have suggestions. More structured processes for managing expressions of interest and explicitly including marginalised perspectives in the stewardship of this work is an ongoing effort, and our goal is to provide more well-formed avenues for such input in future.
If you'd like to add some things to this list but would rather do it anonymously, please get in touch with pospi (contact details here) and they will be happy to add them on your behalf.
- Contexts in which REA has been used
- Ethnic backgrounds
- Where we grew up
- Names of the places we grew up in
- Names of the peoples Indigenous to our lands before Colonisation
- Decades we were born in
- Our preferred pronouns
- Things we are known for professionally
- Things we have studied formally
- Things we have studied informally
- Regional supply chains in America:
- Timber milling
- Local food networks
- Sustainable fishing networks
- Distributed open source hardware manufacturing
- Contributory online economies
- Freelancer cooperatives
- Banking services & cryptocurrency payments
- Alternative anarchist economies in Spain, Greece & wider Europe
- High school fabrication labs and maker-spaces
- North German immigrants to the US after Prussian War
- Romanian
- South Asian (Indian)
- British / Irish / Czech
- Grandparents emigrated from Western Ireland
- "white upbringing, indigenous spirit"
- Various European, homesteading in the newly colonized land in the US (my grandparents/parents)
- Husmann - Norwegian caste of indentured servants
- Scotch-Irish, German
- Mixed European decent
(Cities, suburbs, beach, bush, mountains, rainforest, desert...)
- City / suburbs
- Subsistence farm, small town, and small city in a semi-arid region
- Suburban trailer park
- Rural mixed prairie and woodland on a morraine
- Suburbs ("first world" definition)
- Andean countryside
- A vibrant, multi-dimensional, yet highly inequitable city of 20 million people
- Small city
- Australian bush
- Mumbai, India
- Quito, Ecuador
- Near Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Berks County, Pennsylvania, USA
- Queensland, Australia
- Denver, Colorado, USA
- Caracal, Romania
- Western North Dakota, USA
- Viçosa, Brazil
- Illinois, USA
- Nueta aka Mandan; Nuxbaaga aka Hidatsa; Sahnish aka Arikara
- The Kolis
- No idea
- I was taught that the Quitu people were a recently conquered people by the Cara (Inca), who were then colonized by the Spanish
- Lenape
- Wakka Wakka nations
- Doesn't apply (were never colonised)
- Illini
- Lakota
- 1x 1940s
- 1x 1950s
- 2x 1960s
- 2x 1970s
- 3x 1980s
- 6x 'he'
- 1x 'she'
- 1x 'they'
- 1x 'they or he'
- 1x 'any, defaulting to she'
(Could be a job title, could be something else...)
- Distributed systems architect
- Software requirements analyst, modeller
- Former equity derivs/algo trader
- Community networks developer
- Strategy and creating frameworks for understanding and pragmatic action
- Economic network software researcher
- Socioeconomic hacker
- 4 years at the Gandhi ashram
- P2P modular systems design
("Formally" usually meaning, "in the traditional tertiary schooling system".)
- Bachelors in Electronics Engineering
- BA, studio art
- Double Bachelor of Arts in English and Philosophy with significant coursework in Biology (Specialty in Critical and Cultural Theory as a sub-domain)
- Some graduate work in Art (semiotics and visual history), Theatre (performance of everyday life), and Critical Theory (postcolonial narrative theory)
- Bachelor in IT & design
- Film production & new media arts
- Physics and philosophy
- MBA Finance
- Dropped out of electric engineering and cinema at university
- B.S. Computer Science, Yale University
- 1.5 years of college
- Programming
- Philanthropy
- The flow of centralised capital
- Entrepreneurship and organizational development / management
- Computer networking
- Economics
- Financial planning
- Anti-capitalist politics and economics
- Indigenous and traditional ways of life and knowledge
- Social network analysis work
- P2P economy and business models
- Gardening
- Writing / editing / publication
- Participatory process facilitation
- Communities heavily reliant on social fabric
- Currency design
- Gift economies
- Co-creative Impact and Innovation (various women working globally)
- Permaculture
- Behavioural economics
- Systems thinking
- Carpentry & house construction