The Rise of Philanthrocapitalism and the decline of civil society

In his recent work Michael Edwards examines ‘philanthrocapitalism’, the recent incursion of corporate business into the area of philanthropy, and the adoption of business practices in charitable organisations.  Is the mixing of business and philanthropy a blessing or a curse for the non-profit sector?  This is one of the most important topics in the current debates about philanthropy and civil society.

Michael Edwards is based in upstate New York and is affiliated with the New York-based think-tank Demos, the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University, and the Brooks World Poverty Institute at Manchester University in the UK. From 1999 to 2008 he was the Director of the Ford Foundation's Governance and Civil Society Program in New York, and has worked for the World Bank, Oxfam-GB, Save the Children-UK and other NGOs in Washington DC, London, Colombia, Zambia, Malawi, and India.  He is the author of several books, including Future Positive (1999), Civil Society (2004), Just Another Emperor (2008) and, forthcoming, The Love that Does Justice (2010).  His writing has been met with wide acclaim and has sparked intense debates about the roles of civil society, philanthropy and social movements in Western societies today.