Philanthrocapitalism and the Separation of Powers
- 13 October 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Annual Reviews in Annual Review of Law and Social Science
- Vol. 17 (1), 391-409
- https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-120220-074323
Abstract
This article discusses the rise of an approach to philanthropic giving known as philanthrocapitalism. I relate it to a new paradigm in management theory that has claimed that private profit making naturally aligns with improved public welfare. I show how growing belief in the inherent “compatibility” of corporate missions and public benefits has led to new laws and contributed to major shifts in how giving practices are structured and legitimated. The original point made in this article is that the philanthrocapitalist turn is more than simply an organizational change in the structure of different philanthropic institutions. Rather, the belief that profit-making and public welfare are naturally aligned also has significant, undertheorized implications for different principles in European-American legal traditions. The ascendancy of the philanthrocapitalist approach represents a subtle but profound displacement of belief in the need for democratic checks and balances on the use of public funds for private enrichment. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Law and Social Science, Volume 17 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.Keywords
This publication has 56 references indexed in Scilit:
- Questioning generosity in the golden age of philanthropyProgress in Human Geography, 2013
- Philanthrocapitalism and its criticsPoetics, 2012
- Global Health Philanthropy and Institutional Relationships: How Should Conflicts of Interest Be Addressed?PLoS Medicine, 2011
- Capitalism, Governance, and Authority: The Case of Corporate Social ResponsibilityAnnual Review of Law and Social Science, 2010
- Winner-Take-All Politics: Public Policy, Political Organization, and the Precipitous Rise of Top Incomes in the United StatesPolitics & Society, 2010
- ‘We do good things, don’t we?’: ‘Blended Value Accounting’ in social entrepreneurshipAccounting, Organizations and Society, 2009
- Elites: Remembered in Capitalism and Forgotten by Social SciencesSociological Review, 2008
- The International Wanderings of a Liberal Idea, or Why Liberals Can Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the Balance of PowerPerspectives on Politics, 2007
- Who's making global civil society: philanthropy and US empire in world societyBritish Journal of Sociology, 2006
- The Political Foundations of Democracy and the Rule of the LawAmerican Political Science Review, 1997