Does Philanthropy Do the Public Good?: Setting Third Sector Debates for the Future

Session Submission Type: Roundtable Discussion

Abstract

The role of philanthropy in diverse societies has become an increasingly complex and complicated topic in the midst of growing inequality, renewed debates over power and privilege, persistent conflicts and crises, and ever-more pressing questions as to what constitutes a just society. Yet, these overarching questions have less often been easily integrated into third sector research and scholarship.

While it is vital to continue to attend to the common subjects of analysis – e.g., funding mechanisms, donor motivations, governance practices, evaluation metrics, etc. – there are prior, bigger questions to ask. Before measuring impact and effectiveness we need to discuss: effective at what? While investigating donor choices and motives, we have to ask: whose choices should matter and why? When analyzing government vs. third sector responses to a crisis, we confront the question: who should be responsible for what, ideally?

Getting at these deeper issues requires informed, lively reflection on a central “big question” that we can frame as: “Does philanthropy do the public good?”

The question of does philanthropy do the public good –as well as how and when that might occur - is a foundational question that necessarily relies on a continual exchange between theory and practice. It blurs the lines between the sectors. Addressing this question requires working across multiple disciplines that are too often siloed in our academic divisions of labor. This is not a question just for the historian or ethicist. Easy answers and simple categorizations are impossible as the lines between public and private, local and global, or individual and collective action are increasingly blurred and contested. Scholars must not idealize but rather illustrate and investigate multiple philanthropic traditions in their diverse contexts, as they differ across historical, geographical, political, cultural, and religious traditions. In short, addressing this question requires scholars interrogating together what makes philanthropy legitimate (or not) as a path toward the public good – a task made all the more challenging, and necessary, in increasingly diverse societies experiencing increasingly frequent disruptions.

We believe the debate around this question will define our field in the coming decades. And critically reflecting on these sorts of big questions together is, we believe, an essential part of ISTR’s mission to engage across scholarship, practice, and global contexts.

In this roundtable, scholars from across a number of disciplines and locations will reflect on the nature of philanthropy and the public good, and how and when those two intersect in the contexts in which they do their research and theorizing. For example, these voices from diverse perspectives will discuss how they define the public good, how we can know if philanthropy is advancing that larger good vs. the good of the few, who is involved in these decisions and who is left out, and what the huge current changes in philanthropic thought and practice might mean in addressing this question in the years ahead.

The roundtable will involve a lively debate among several panelists, as well as ample time for attendee input and questions.

References

REFERENCES

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Sub Unit

• Uni/multidisciplinary Third Sector theory

Discussants

• Susan D Phillips, Carleton University

• Ana Maria Sanchez, Centro Mexicano para la Filantropia CEMEFI

• Bhekinkosi Moyo, Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment CAPSI

• Aya Okada, Tohoku University

Moderators

• David King, Indiana University

• Michael Moody, Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy