What is philanthropy & why should you care?

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Welcome to episode 1 of Philanthropisms! This is the podcast where we put philanthropy in context. Through conversations with expert guests and deep dives into topics, host Rhodri Davies explores giving throughout history, the key trends shaping generosity around the world today and what the future might hold for philanthropy. 

In this episode we’re going right back to first principles to ask the question “what is philanthropy and why should you care?” To answer that we will take a whistle-stop tour through more than 2,000 years of history, explore the ways in which philanthropy has been defined by comparison to other concepts, and find out about some of the key debates shaping philanthropy today.

Including:

• What does “philanthropisms” mean?
• Is philanthropy an inherently vague term (or a “floating signifier”)? Does this stop us using it in practice?
• The roots of philanthropy in the ancient world
• The development of Judeo-Christian notions of charity
• The impact of secular humanism, the Reformation, the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution on philanthropy
• The Victorian “golden age” of UK giving and the rise of “scientific philanthropy”
• How the early C20th US Gilded Age established the paradigm for modern philanthropy (for better or worse)
• Defining philanthropy by what it isn’t- “Philanthropy vs…”:
  • Charity
  • Altruism
  • Mutual Aid
  • Private giving
  • Commercial activity
  • State provision
  • Taxation
  • Politics
  • Justice
• Why should you care about philanthropy (and therefore listen to this podcast…)?

Related Links

• My book “Public Good By Private Means: How Philanthropy Shapes Britain” (PDF version available HERE)
• Hugh Cunnigham on “A History of Western Philanthropy”
• “Philanthropy and human rights: the genealogy of the idea from antiquity to global society”- 2013 conference paper by Ojvind Larsen
• The Hist Phil website https://histphil.org/ 
• Video of the panel discussion on “Rewriting the Rules of Philanthropy”, which I moderated recently for the launch of Lucy Bernholz’s new book “How We Give Now” (including Lucy, Asha Curran from Giving Tuesday and Edgar Villanueva from the Decolonizing Wealth Project).
• My Medium article “Language Barriers: why the ways in which we talk about philanthropy & civil society are holding us back”
• My short video of the history of British charity in 2 minutes.