With Erica Kohl-Arenas’ recent piece, HistPhil‘s forum on inequality comes to an end. This is not to say that our attention toward the issue will wane; we still welcome contributions and discussions on the topic. But at the start of September, we’ll be moving on to a focus on another theme: the history of the … Continue reading
Category Archives: From the Editors
Reflecting on the Past 10 Years: U.S. Philanthropy’s Response to Katrina
Ten years after Hurricane Katrina, The New York Times today published an in-depth analysis of how the city of New Orleans has changed since then, arguing: “The city that went under in the surging waters of Hurricane Katrina has not returned, not to the way it used to be.” Though the piece does not focus particularly on philanthropy, it … Continue reading
Beyond HistPhil: Discussing the Ford Foundation’s Global Inequality Focus
This week’s contributors to the Philanthropy & Inequality Forum—particularly Alice O’Connor and I—made mention of the Ford Foundation’s recent announcement to make global inequality its principal grantmaking focus. Before moving on with the forum on Monday with contributions by Karen Ferguson, Leah Gordon, and Daniel Geary, here is a list of other pieces from various … Continue reading
What does philanthropy look like?
On Monday, we will begin a discussion on philanthropy & inequality. In the meantime, though, here is a light-hearted call for suggestions on a “stock” image for HistPhil: You may have noticed that HistPhil has been using photos of our contributors to accompany posts. We thought that as we develop a community of scholars and practitioners all interested … Continue reading
On OpenDemocracy: An Analysis of the Ford Foundation’s New Mission
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
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
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
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
The Clinton Foundation in Historical Perspective
My friend and long-time collaborator in studying the history of the philanthropic foundation, Barry Karl, cautioned me that “historians cannot predict the future, they are not even very good at predicting the past.” Wise words, and I have tried to keep them in mind for the forty years in which I have been thinking about … Continue reading
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