Editors’ Note: Thomas Adam highlights an important recent court case in Germany that has the potential to transform the nation’s philanthropic sector. Over the course of the nineteenth century, German civil society experienced a remarkable expansion in the absolute numbers of, and in the assets given to, foundations and endowments. Wealthy Germans created endowments that … Continue reading
Editors’ Note: HistPhil takes a brief break from our forum on the Tax Reform Act of 1969 for a post by Thomas Adam complicating the historical association between the growth of democracy and the surging of civil society. Alexis de Tocqueville’s dictum that Americans formed associations for addressing social problems while the French and English … Continue reading
Editors’ Note: Thomas Adam, author of Philanthropy, Civil Society, and the State in German History, 1815-1989 (reviewed yesterday by Stefan Toepler), continues HistPhil‘s week-long book forum on German philanthropy history. The last two decades have seen the rise of social enterprises and social entrepreneurship in which profit-seeking ventures are combined with philanthropic forms. This “new … Continue reading
Editors Note: The last year witnessed the publication two important books on the history of modern German philanthropy, Thomas Adam’s Philanthropy, Civil Society, and the State in German History, 1815-1989 and German Philanthropy in Transatlantic Perspective, edited by Gregory Witkowski and Arnd Bauerkämper. The coincidence of these two works signals a contemporary flowering of scholarship on the … Continue reading
Editors’ Note: This announcement comes from HistPhil contributor Thomas Adam. Note that the winning essay will appear in an edited volume whose introduction will be written by HistPhil‘s own Stan Katz. The Department of History at the University of Texas at Arlington is announcing its annual Webb/Smith Essay Competition as part of the 52nd annual Walter … Continue reading
Editors’ Note: With this contribution, Thomas Adam continues the site’s philanthropy & education forum. Rising tuition fees and a lack of scholarship support for an increasing number of college students forces more and more students to finance their university education through student loans. According to the Institute for College Access and Success, in the seven … Continue reading
Editors’ Note: Earlier this week, Olivier Zunz and Emma Saunders-Hastings discussed Alexis de Tocqueville’s views on philanthropy, with Saunders-Hastings arguing that the sector today is more aristocratic than democratic in the Tocquevillian sense. Responding to this ongoing conversation on Tocqueville’s observations of American life, Thomas Adam explains that philanthropy is not unique to democracies nor does it necessarily signal a … Continue reading
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
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