Private Virtues, Public Vices - Philanthropy and Democratic Equality

"Philanthropy plays a huge role in supporting many public goods in contemporary American and European societies. Thus, the decision about what activities receive support and are therefore financially viable depends the personal preferences of the wealthy. In Private Virtues, Public Vices: Philanthropy and Democratic Equality, political theorist Emma Saunders-Hastings argues that philanthropy is a deeply political activity that should be judged not only by the morality of the causes being supported, but also by the fact that the choices of the very rich essentially dictate decisions for the rest of us, foreclosing some possibilities and directing us down paths we might not otherwise choose. What Saunders-Hastings asks is that we look at the impact on democracy of the kind of power wielded by philanthropy and how it enables the wealthy to exercise greater power in our society and deepen its political inequalities"--

About the author

Emma Saunders-Hastings is assistant professor in political science at the Ohio State University. Her writing on philanthropy has appeared in the Journal of Politics, the Boston Review, and Effective Altruism: Philosophical Issues.

Summary

A thought-provoking challenge to our ideas about philanthropy, marking it as a deeply political activity that allows the wealthy to dictate more than we think.

Product details

• Authors: Emma Saunders-Hastings
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.12.2021
• EAN: 9780226816159
• ISBN: 978-0-226-81615-9
• No. of pages: 256
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Natural sciences (general); POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Economy, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Ideologies / Democracy, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Philanthropy & Charity, Political structures: democracy, Political Economy, Social classes, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Social Classes & Economic Disparity, Charities, Voluntary Services & Philanthropy, Charities, voluntary services and philanthropy, Political structures / systems: democracy