Open AccessAccounting for Justice: Citizen Public Debt Audits and the Case of Puerto Rico
Author(s) -
Wendy Wiedenhoft Murphy
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
studies in social justice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.213
H-Index - 14
ISSN - 1911-4788
DOI - 10.26522/ssj.v16i1.2527
Subject(s) - debt , context (archaeology) , creditor , praxis , audit , economic justice , accounting , political science , business , public administration , economics , economic policy , finance , law , geography , archaeology
A Citizen Public Debt Audit (CPDA) is an emancipatory praxis that can mobilize citizens to make legible public debt that has been accrued in their name. Ideally, it should hold creditors accountable for debt that is determined to be odious. This study examines the public debt crisis in Puerto Rico to illustrate the historically unjust circumstances under which public debt was accumulated on the island in the context of US federal taxation and economic policies. It explains how citizens are mobilizing via a CPDA to make these circumstances legible and argues that citizens should not be obliged to service debt that was accrued contrary to their own welfare, especially if conditions of repayment threaten their current and future well-being.