American Philanthropy at Home and Abroad explores the different ways in which charities, voluntary associations, religious organisations, philanthropic foundations and other non-state actors have engaged with traditions of giving. Using examples from the late eighteenth century to the Cold War, the collection addresses a number of major themes in the history of philanthropy in the United States. These examples include the role of religion, the significance of cultural networks, and the interplay between civil diplomacy and international development, as well as individual case studies that challenge the very notion of philanthropy as a social good. Led by Ben Offiler and Rachel Williams, the authors demonstrate the benefits of embracing a broad definition of philanthropy, examining how American concepts including benevolence and charity have been used and interpreted by different groups and individuals in an effort to shape – and at least nominally to improve – people's lives both within and beyond the United States.

American Philanthropy at Home and Abroad explores the different ways in which charities, voluntary associations, religious organisations, philanthropic foundations and other non-state actors have engaged with traditions of giving. Using examples from the late eighteenth century to the Cold War, the collection addresses a number of major themes in the history of philanthropy in the United States. These examples include the role of religion, the significance of cultural networks, and the interplay between civil diplomacy and international development, as well as individual case studies that challenge the very notion of philanthropy as a social good. Led by Ben Offiler and Rachel Williams, the authors demonstrate the benefits of embracing a broad definition of philanthropy, examining how American concepts including benevolence and charity have been used and interpreted by different groups and individuals in an effort to shape – and at least nominally to improve – people's lives both within and beyond the United States.

Philanthropy and Cultural Imperialism is intended as a source book on the origins, workings, and consequences of modern general-purpose foundations. The text encompasses the activities of foundations—prinicpally Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Ford—in the production of culture and the formation of public policy. Particular attention is given to the policies of the big foundations in the fields of education and social science research. The authors write from the perspectives of history, sociology, comparative education, and educational policy studies. Their chapters are based on original research. While the contributors do not share a uniform ideological framework, they do have in common a structural point of view—they examine foundations with regard to their functioning in society. They analyze the implications of foundations' organizational characteristics, modus operandi, and substantive decisions for social control or social change. A distinguishing feature of Philanthropy and Cultural Imperialism is its systematic, critical analysis of the sociopolitical consequences of these powerful institutions. A central thesis is that foundations like Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Ford have a corrosive influence on a democratic society; they represent relatively unregulated and unaccountable concentrations of power and wealth which buy talent, promote causes, and, in effect, establish an agenda of what merits society's attention.

This book tells for the first time, in rich detail, and without apologetics, what Americans have done, in the voluntary sector and often without official sanction, for human welfare in all parts of the world. Beneath the currently fashionable rhetoric of anti-colonialism is the story of people who have aided victims of natural disasters such as famines and earthquakes, and what they contributed to such agencies of cultural and social life as libraries, schools, and colleges. The work of an assortment of individuals, from missionaries to foundation executives, has advanced public health, international education, and technical assistance to the Third World. These people have also assisted in relief and relocation of refugees, displaced persons, and those who suffered religious and racial persecution. These activities were especially noteworthy following the two world wars of the twentieth century. The United States established great foundations—Carnegie, Rosenwald, Phelps-Stokes, Rockefeller, Ford, among others—which provided another face of capitalist accumulation to those in backward economic regions and those suffering political persecution. These were meshed with religious relief agencies of all denominations that also contributed to make possible what Arnold Toynbee called “a century in which civilized man made the benefits of progress available to all mankind.” This is a massive work requiring more than five years of research, drawing upon a wide array of hitherto unavailable materials and source documents.

Covers the entire range of the history of U.S. foreign relations from the colonial period to the beginning of the 21st century. A Companion to U.S. Foreign Relations is an authoritative guide to past and present scholarship on the history of American diplomacy and foreign relations from its seventeenth century origins to the modern day. This two-volume reference work presents a collection of historiographical essays by prominent scholars. The essays explore three centuries of America’s global interactions and the ways U.S. foreign policies have been analyzed and interpreted over time. Scholars offer fresh perspectives on the history of U.S. foreign relations; analyze the causes, influences, and consequences of major foreign policy decisions; and address contemporary debates surrounding the practice of American power. The Companion covers a wide variety of methodologies, integrating political, military, economic, social and cultural history to explore the ideas and events that shaped U.S. diplomacy and foreign relations and continue to influence national identity. The essays discuss topics such as the links between U.S. foreign relations and the study of ideology, race, gender, and religion; Native American history, expansion, and imperialism; industrialization and modernization; domestic and international politics; and the United States’ role in decolonization, globalization, and the Cold War. A comprehensive approach to understanding the history, influences, and drivers of U.S. foreign relation, this indispensable resource: Examines significant foreign policy events and their subsequent interpretations Places key figures and policies in their historical, national, and international contexts Provides background on recent and current debates in U.S. foreign policy Explores the historiography and primary sources for each topic Covers the development of diverse themes and methodologies in histories of U.S. foreign policy Offering scholars, teachers, and students unmatched chronological breadth and analytical depth, A Companion to U.S. Foreign Relations: Colonial Era to the Present is an important contribution to scholarship on the history of America’s interactions with the world.

Once largely confined to the biggest cities in the mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes states, philanthropic foundations now play a significant role in nearly every state. Wide-ranging and incisive, the essays in American Philanthropic Foundations: Regional Difference and Change examine the origins, development, and accomplishments of philanthropic foundations in key cities and regions of the United States. Each contributor assesses foundation efforts to address social and economic inequalities, and to encourage cultural and creative life in their home regions and elsewhere. This fascinating and timely study of contemporary America's philanthropic foundations vividly illustrates foundations' commonalities and differences as they strive to address pressing public problems.

Philanthropy is both timeless and timely. Ancient Romans, Medieval aristocrats, and Victorian industrialists engaged in philanthropy, as do modern-day Chinese billionaires, South African activists, and Brazilian nuns. Today, philanthropic practice is evolving faster than ever before, with donors giving their time, talents, and social capital in creative new ways and in combination with their financial resources. These developments are generating complex new debates and adding new twists to enduring questions, from "why be philanthropic?" to "what does it mean to do philanthropy ‘better’?" Addressing such questions requires greater understanding of the contested purpose and diverse practice of philanthropy. With an international and interdisciplinary focus, The Philanthropy Reader serves as a one-stop resource that brings together essential and engaging extracts from key texts and major thinkers, and frames these in a way that captures the historical development, core concepts, perennial debates, global reach, and recent trends of this field. The book includes almost 100 seminal and illuminating writings about philanthropy, equipping readers with the guiding material they need to better grasp such a crucial yet complex and evolving topic. Additional readings and discussion questions also accompany the text as online supplements. This text will be essential reading for students on philanthropy courses worldwide, and will also be of interest to anyone active in the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors — from donors and grantmakers, to advisers and fundraisers.

This book explores the influence of private United States (US) philanthropic foundations in the governance of global problems. Through a close scrutiny of four high profile case studies of public-private collaboration, the work addresses the vacuum present in global governance scholarship regarding the influence of foundations, arguing the influence of these actors extends beyond the basic material, and into the more subtle and complex ideational sphere of policy and governance. This book: charts the growth of private forms of governance and foundations’ role in deepening and extending private power in global politics provides a historical examination of private foundations in international affairs including their centrality in the development of the institutional architecture in international health and agriculture and the linkage back to domestic political systems analyses the new modes of philanthropy and giving styles – particularly venture philanthropy and ‘philanthrocapitalism’ – and how these are being rearticulated in the aid architecture and in development discourses evaluates distinctive features and unique attributes of foundations as transnational actors (including their limitations) – how they use these attributes when exercising policy influence and how they negotiate and collaborate with other state and non-state actors in global governance provides an introduction to three prominent foundations – Gates, Rockefeller and the Acumen Fund – and four key partnerships – IAVI, GAVI, AGRA and A to Z textile Mills. This work will be of great interest to students and scholars of international organizations, international political economy and development studies.

This book examines the generally unrecognized role played by the Carnegie, Ford, and Rockefeller foundations in support of United States foreign policy, particularly since 1945. The foundations' efforts on behalf of American interests abroad have focused primarily on their support for a number of institutions of higher education in strategically located Third World nations. These institutions, modeled after foundation-supported American universities, were designed to train Third World leaders in norms that would encourage them—minimally—to assume a posture of neutrality toward American economic and political penetration of their societies. Dr. Berman's study challenges the oft-asserted, but undocumented, thesis of the American political right that these liberal foundations historically have pursued policies detrimental to United States interests. The evidence indicates how foundation policies and programs were formulated after close consultation with leaders of the American corporate sector and government officials, and how their activities were designed to further the objectives determined by those who influence the direction of United States foreign policy.