Capitalist Philanthropy and Hegemonic Partnerships

Over the past 10 years individual capitalists have become increasingly involved in philanthropy, setting up charitable foundations targeted at helping to reduce social problems such as poverty, disease and food security. This form of neoliberal capitalist philanthropy is both politically and ideolog...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Third world quarterly 2012-08, Vol.33 (7), p.1191-1210
Main Author: Morvaridi, Behrooz
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural development
Alliances
Capital
Capitalism
Capitalist enterprises
Charitable foundations
Charitable organizations
Collaboration
Commodification
Corporations
Diseases
Family farms
Foundations
Genetically altered foods
Genetically modified organisms
Hegemony
Investment
Markets
Motivation
Neoliberalism
Partnership
Peasant agriculture
Philanthropy
Poverty
Social Change
Social Problems
Sub Saharan Africa
Sustainable agriculture
Transgenic plants
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Summary:Over the past 10 years individual capitalists have become increasingly involved in philanthropy, setting up charitable foundations targeted at helping to reduce social problems such as poverty, disease and food security. This form of neoliberal capitalist philanthropy is both politically and ideologically committed to market-based social investment through partnerships, to make the market work or work better for capital. The new structures of philanthropy have received much praise in the media for imbuing capitalist business principles into the non-profit sector and for their potential for social transformation. While philanthropic activities may be considered worthy in themselves, this article examines the relationship between giving and business interest and the agency associated with neoliberal capitalist philanthropy. It questions partnerships between philanthropists and private corporations and their motivations for engaging in poverty-related philanthropy. The discussion focuses on capitalist philanthropic foundations' involvement in the process of agricultural commodification in sub-Saharan Africa through the New Green Revolution and genetically modified (gm) technologies.
ISSN:0143-6597
1360-2241
DOI:10.1080/01436597.2012.691827