Towards a Theory of Racial Philanthropy: Charting Racial Capitalism Relations in the Nonprofit Sector

• In Event: 20467 - Social Movements and Institutions in US Politics

Abstract

Nonprofit scholars typically conceptualize philanthropy as race-neutral structures while race and ethnicity sociologists have largely neglected the role of philanthropy in the social construction and maintenance of race. The theory developed herein seeks to bridge these subfields, arguing that philanthropy is imbricated within a system of racial capitalist relations, which traverse the domains of state, civil society, and the market. By way of ideology and structure, these relations shape the distribution of social and material resources. I start with the proposition that racial capitalism is fundamental to the constitution of philanthropy. Next, I identify and describe four mechanisms of racial philanthropy: (1) White accumulation of wealth and power; (2) marketization of inequality management; (3) redirection or ‘capture’ of social movements; and (4) commodification of racialized bodies and identities. Based on this discussion, I argue that scholars of racial capitalism theory and race and ethnicity must consider how racial capitalist relations and structures are sustained through philanthropy. By recognizing philanthropy as a constitutive element of racial capitalism and an active agent in the social construction of race, scholars can pay particular attention to how philanthropic relations shape social, political, and economic structures.

Author

• Snehalatha Gantla, Brandeis University