Necroaccountability, epidemics and symbolic power: A comparison between London and Naples in 1854

This study compares the systems of accounts of death operating in London and Naples during the cholera epidemic of 1854. It adopts a translation in space and time of the Bourdieusian concepts of field, capital and habitus and analyses secondary sources as well as primary sources, mainly in the form of medical reports, bulletins, records and healthcare registers retained in the State Archive of Naples and the National Archives in London. The main finding is that the significance of providing an account of death is a function of the distributions and intensity of the symbolic power in the field of forces where it occurs. Moreover, rendering accounts of death reinforces the initial state of equilibrium or disequilibrium within the field. The article contributes to the emerging streams of research into necroaccountability and into natural disasters in the form of epidemics.