Earlier today, openDemocracy published an insightful piece by Erica Kohl-Arenas examining the Ford Foundation’s new mission to eradicate inequality. In “Can philanthropy ever reduce inequality,” the author questions whether the Foundation will stray from the history of U.S. philanthropy and attack “inequality at its roots” instead of simply promoting “the tradition of individualized ‘racial uplift’ or ‘self-help’ that calls for assimilation, … Continue reading
Author Archives: HistPhil
The 19th Cent: When Humanitarianism Meant Something Different
Editors’ Note: Below, Abigail Green discusses some of the central claims in one of her most recent academic pieces, “Humanitarianism in Nineteenth-Century Context: Religious, Gendered, National” (The Historical Journal, Dec. 2014). In a subsequent post, Amanda Moniz responds to Green’s article. Teaching at Oxford, I’m familiar with the idea that ‘you have to understand the past to understand the present’: … Continue reading
Responding to Abigail Green’s “Humanitarianism in Nineteenth-Century Context”
Editors’ Note: In another post on this site, Abigail Green discusses some of the central claims in one of her most recent academic pieces, “Humanitarianism in Nineteenth-Century Context: Religious, Gendered, National” (The Historical Journal, Dec. 2014). Below, Amanda Moniz responds to Green’s article. Historian or practitioner, our shared interest in the past, present, and future of philanthropy and humanitarianism makes us a … Continue reading
SHAFR’s Annual Conference: Discussing Philanthropy, Humanitarianism, and Human Rights
Editors’ Note: In late June, the annual meeting of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) took place in Washington DC; and in an earlier post on this site, we noted that some of its panels would be of interest to HistPhil readers. Here, Amanda Moniz provides us with a snapshot of conversations on philanthropy, humanitarianism, and … Continue reading
In The Boston Review: Forum on the Logic of Effective Altruism
In the current issue of The Boston Review, Peter Singer opens a debate on the logic of effective altruism. Respondents include Daron Acemoglu, Angus Deaton, Jennifer Rubenstein, Larissa MacFarquhar, Leila Janah, Emma Saunders-Hastings, Rob Reich, Paul Brest, Iason Gabriel, András Miklós, and Catherine Tumber. This forum is definitely worth a read for anyone interested in analyzing what it means … Continue reading
A Call for More Transnational Histories of Philanthropy
Editors’ Note: To our readers in the U.S., welcome back from a long holiday weekend! We continue our discussion of the field with the below post by Thomas Adam. In the next week, we will be discussing philanthropy and humanitarianism on the global stage. As always, though, please reach out to HistPhil‘s editors with commentary and … Continue reading
Q&A with Hewlett Foundation President Larry Kramer
Editors’ Note: The following is a conversation between Hewlett Foundation President Larry Kramer and HistPhil co-founder Maribel Morey. It was conducted via email in February and early March, and inspired by Kramer’s 2015 Roberts Lecture at Penn Law “‘To Adjust These Clashing Interests’: Negotiation and Compromise as Core Constitutional Values.” A constitutional scholar and historian who is now a foundation president, Larry Kramer … Continue reading
What is New about Sean Parker’s Vision for Philanthropy?
Editors’ Note: Whether it was meant to or not, the publicity roll-out for tech mogul Sean Parker’s Parker Foundation makes a series of historical arguments and raises a host of questions that are worth grappling with. What is really new about what Parker calls “hacker philanthropy?” What should we make about Parker’s arguments, best expressed in his Wall … Continue reading
Obergefell (2015): A Time for Reflection on the Role of Philanthropy in a Democracy
This past Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Obergefell v. Hodges that the Fourteenth Amendment requires a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and to recognize similar marriages licensed and performed out-of-state. Of course, this decision will be celebrated by marriage equality activists and supporters, like myself, and … Continue reading
A Historian in a Management-Oriented Field
Editors’ Note: With this piece by Peter C. Weber, we continue our discussion on the history of philanthropy. It is not always easy being a historian of philanthropy in a field that is an increasingly management-oriented one. As I am starting my first academic position as Director of Nonprofit Leadership Studies at Murray State University, … Continue reading
In the Summer Issue of Lapham’s Quarterly
Readers of HistPhil might be interested in the current issue of Lapham’s Quarterly. For those not familiar with the publication, it’s an offshoot of the “Readings” section of Harper’s Magazine, where Lewis Lapham reigned as the long-serving editor. Each Quarterly features a collection of readings, culled from historical sources, based around a particular theme, and this … Continue reading
OHSU Meets Knight’s $500 Million Challenge Grant: A Historical Reflection
The big news from Oregon Health and Science University is that they have met Phil Knight’s $500 million challenge grant. To celebrate, take a look at the recent article that Benjamin Soskis, a HistPhil co-editor, wrote for the Chronicle of Philanthropy on the history and contemporary significance of challenge grants. Challenge grants are “in many respects, … Continue reading
Part II: Debating the Basis of American Civil Society, Waves of Debate about Religion and Virtue
Editors’ Note: Yesterday, we published Part One of David C. Hammack‘s two-part contribution. Below is Part Two: “Debating the Basis of American Civil Society, Waves of Debate about Religion and Virtue.” Earlier posts under this general dialogue on the field of philanthropic history include: Stan Katz’s “The Clinton Foundation in Historical Perspective”; Maribel Morey’s “Increasing the Visibility of Philanthropy among … Continue reading
Waves of Historical Interest in Philanthropy and Civil Society
Editors’ Note: We continue with our discussion of the field with this two-part contribution by historian David C. Hammack. Today, we include Part One: “Waves of Historical Interest in Philanthropy and Civil Society.” Tomorrow, we will post Part Two: “Debating the Basis of American Civil Society, Waves of Debate about Religion and Virtue.” Earlier posts under this … Continue reading
Philanthropic History and a Healthy Heterodoxy
Yesterday, the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s Kevin Bolduc directed our attention to a recent article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review that he considered “ripe for historical insight.” HistPhil is never one to back away from a challenge—to say nothing of the fact that this was precisely the sort of conversation between historians, practitioners, and … Continue reading
Q&A with Historian Olivier Zunz
Editors’ Note: In our introduction to the blog, we said that the site will be structured around certain themes and that we would start off with a discussion on the state of the field. HistPhil’s Stan Katz launched this dialogue last week by asking how a historical perspective can inform our understanding of the Clinton Foundation; providing an example of how this field … Continue reading
Increasing the Visibility of Philanthropy among U.S. Historians
Editors’ Note: In “Introducing HistPhil,” we mentioned that the site will be structured around certain themes and that we would start off with a discussion on the state of the field. HistPhil co-founder Stan Katz launched this dialogue earlier this week by asking how a historical perspective can inform our understanding of the Clinton Foundation; providing an example of how this field … Continue reading
Upcoming SHAFR Meeting
Editors’ Note: Several sessions of interest to readers will take place at the upcoming meeting of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) next week in DC. Below, we are including just a few that seemed particularly relevant to historians of philanthropy. SHAFR, 2015 Annual Meeting (Thurs., June 25- Sat., June 27) Thursday, June 25, 11:45am-1:30pm Panel 4: … Continue reading
In the June Issues of the AHR and NVSQ
(Editors’ Note: In “Introducing HistPhil,” we said that we will keep track of events, articles, and books of interest to the field. This is our first blog post in that vein.) In the current issue of The American Historical Review, William I. Hitchcock reviews Bruno Cabanes’s The Great War and the Origins of Humanitarianism, 1918-1924 (NYC: Cambridge University … Continue reading
Introducing HistPhil: A New Blog on the History of Philanthropy
Modern philanthropy has long had an ambivalent relationship with its own history. On the one hand, every decade or so has brought tidings of a New Philanthropy, or sometimes even of a New, New Philanthropy, a designation that promotes a virtuous discontinuity with the giving that had marked the benighted old days. Centuries ago, such … Continue reading
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