The Ethics of Entrepreneurial Philanthropy

Charles Harvey,Jillian Gordon,Mairi Maclean

doi:10.1007/s10551-020-04468-7

Abstract

A salient if under researched feature of the new age of global inequalities is the rise to prominence of entrepreneurial philanthropy, the pursuit of transformational social goals through philanthropic investment in projects animated by entrepreneurial principles. Super-wealthy entrepreneurs in this way extend their suzerainty from the domain of the economic to the domains of the social and political. We explore the ethics and ethical implications of entrepreneurialphilanthropy through systematic comparison with what we call customaryphilanthropy, which preferences support for established institutions and social practices. We analyse the ethical statements made at interview by 24 elite UK philanthropists, 12 customary and 12 entrepreneurial, to reveal the co-existence of two ethically charged narratives of elite philanthropic motivations, each instrumental in maintaining the established socio-economic order. We conclude that entrepreneurial philanthropy, as an ostensibly efficacious instrument of social justice, is ethically flawed by its unremitting impulse toward ideological purity.

Highlights

A salient if under researched feature of the new age of global inequalities is the rise to prominence of entrepreneurial philanthropy, the pursuit of transformational social goals through philanthropic investment in projects animated by entrepreneurial principles (Bishop and Green 2009; Dietlin 2010)
In recycling large fortunes in their own lifetimes, philanthropic entrepreneurs bring capital and expertise to bear in tackling deep-seated social problems, helping disadvantaged others help themselves while arresting the politics of envy and healing social divisions (Harvey et al 2011)
While there are numerous studies of strategic corporate philanthropy (Gautier and Pache 2015; McAlister and Ferrell 2002; Porter and Kramer 2006), there are very few empirical studies of the ethics of philanthropic elites; of the values and ideas wealthy people claim motivate and direct their philanthropic interventions and commitments (Schervish 2005). We address this lacuna in what follows through an interpretive enquiry based on life-history interviews with 24 prominent members of Britain’s philanthropic elite, 12 customary and 12 entrepreneurial philanthropists, building on prior research suggesting how entrepreneurial philanthropy differs crucially from the longer established practice of customary philanthropy (Harvey et al 2019)

Summary

Introduction

A salient if under researched feature of the new age of global inequalities is the rise to prominence of entrepreneurial philanthropy, the pursuit of transformational social goals through philanthropic investment in projects animated by entrepreneurial principles (Bishop and Green 2009; Dietlin 2010). The work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in striving to eradicate diseases like malaria and polio is emblematic of a much wider social movement of super-wealthy entrepreneurs to combat poverty and other manifestations of injustice prevalent in both developed and developing countries (Callahan 2017; McGoey 2015). The doctrine of entrepreneurial philanthropy, first articulated by Carnegie in what became known as The Gospel of Wealth (1889), is argued to matter more than ever before because it offers mitigation for the worst excesses of “winners takes all” capitalism (Acs 2013; Giridharadas 2019). In recycling large fortunes in their own lifetimes, philanthropic entrepreneurs bring capital and expertise to bear in tackling deep-seated social problems, helping disadvantaged others help themselves while arresting the politics of envy and healing social divisions (Harvey et al 2011). Investor Christopher Hohn and his former spouse Jamie Cooper promote “bold solutions to seemingly intractable challenges for children and adolescents in developing countries” because “every child deserves to survive and thrive today and in the future”

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion