| Description |
1 online resource (692 p.) |
| Contents |
Intro -- Dedication -- Title -- Praise for this book -- Contents -- Introduction -- Can the Rich Save the World? -- The Anthropology of Gift-Giving -- The Donor, the Recipient and Wider society -- Just Who Do Philanthropists Think They Are? -- English Philanthropy and Beyond -- Chapter 1 Two Visions of Philanthropy -- The Greeks -- Philanthrôpía and Honour -- The Romans, Aristotle, and the Philanthropy of Patronage -- The Place of the Poor in Graeco-roman philanthropy -- The Jews -- Giving in Imitation of God -- Philanthropy and the Just Society |
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Islam -- Philanthropy as Social Solidarity -- Children of Abraham -- Interview: Jonathan Sacks on Jewish philanthropy -- Chapter 2 The Foundations of Western Philanthropy -- Jesus the Jew -- and the Jesus of the Gospels -- St Paul -- Jewish Sensibility and Hellenistic Thinking -- The Arrival of Rich Christians -- Almsgiving and Christian Identity -- Philanthropists as Lovers of the Poor -- Is Almsgiving Redemptive? -- Interview: Jonathan Ruffer on Christianity and giving -- Chapter 3 Medieval Charity -- The Parish and its Tithes -- The Rise of the Monasteries |
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Medieval Islamic Philanthropic Institutions -- From 'Poverty of status' to 'poverty of possessions' among Medieval Jews -- Maimonides and the Hierarchy of Giving -- The Twelfth-Century Renaissance -- A New Economy and a New Theology -- Reconciling Medieval Contradictions -- Gratian's Decretum -- The Rights of the Poor and the Duty of the Rich -- Should the Rich Discriminate in their Giving? -- Rich and Poor Encompassed In a Community of Love -- Interview: Naser Haghamed on Islamic charity -- Chapter 4 How the Black Death Changed Everything |
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Did Medieval Philanthropy Work in Practice? -- The Impact of the doctrine of Purgatory on Giving -- How the Black Death Corrupted Relations between Rich and Poor -- The Death of Feudalism and the Rise of the Beggar -- The Church Loosens its grip on Philanthropy -- Guilds and Confraternities -- From Flagellation to Philanthropy -- A New Philanthropic Institution -- the monte di pietà -- The Arrival of the Shamefaced Poor -- The Philanthropic legacy of the Middle Ages -- Interview: John Studzinski on art, religion and philanthropy -- Chapter 5 The Great Myth of the Reformation |
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Protestant Propagandists -- New Systems of Poor Relief -- The Role of Humanism -- The Moral Character of the Poor -- The Loss of the Monasteries -- Spin and Statistics -- Why the Myth has Persisted -- The Truth about Post-Reformation Philanthropy -- Interview: Rowan Williams on Christian philanthropy -- Chapter 6 The Business of the State -- The Beggar in Tudor Propaganda -- Vagrants and the Threat of Insurrection -- The Explosion in Poverty -- Humanism and a New Politics -- First Attempts at a Poor Law -- The Dissolution of the Monasteries |
| Summary |
The super-rich are silently and secretly shaping our world. In this groundbreaking exploration of historical and contemporary philanthropy, bestselling author Paul Vallely reveals how this far-reaching change came about. Vivid with anecdote and scholarly insight, this magisterial survey - from the ancient Greeks to today's high-tech geeks - provides an original take on the history of philanthropy. It shows how giving has, variously, been a matter of honour, altruism, religious injunction, political control, moral activism, enlightened self-interest, public good, personal fulfillment and plutocratic manipulation. Its narrative moves from the Greek man of honour and Roman patron, via the Jewish prophet and Christian scholastic - through the Elizabethan machiavel, Puritan proto-capitalist, Enlightenment activist and Victorian moralist - to the robber-baron philanthropist, the welfare socialist, the celebrity activist and today's wealthy mega-giver. In the process it discovers that philanthropy lost an essential element as it entered the modern era. The book then embarks on a journey to determine where today's philanthropists come closest to recovering that missing dimension. Philanthropy explores the successes and failures of philanthrocapitalism, examines its claims and contradictions, and asks tough questions of top philanthropists and leading thinkers - among them Richard Branson, Eliza Manningham-Buller, Jonathan Ruffer, David Sainsbury, John Studzinski, Bob Geldof, Naser Haghamed, Lenny Henry, Jonathan Sacks, Rowan Williams, Ngaire Woods, and the presidents of the Rockefeller and Soros foundations, Rajiv Shah and Patrick Gaspard. In extended conversations they explore the relationship between philanthropy and family, faith, society, art, politics, and the creation and distribution of wealth. Highly engaging and meticulously researched, Paul Vallely's authoritative account of philanthropy then and now critiques the excessive utilitarianism of much modern philanthrocapitalism and points to how philanthropy can rediscover its soul. -- Provided by publisher |
| Notes |
Description based upon print version of record |
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Unexampled Savagery and Civic Persuasion |
| Subject |
Philanthropists -- History
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Endowments.
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Humanitarianism.
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Ethics.
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Charities.
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Voluntarism.
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Foundations
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Ethics
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foundations (organizations)
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ethics (philosophy)
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Charities
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Endowments
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Ethics
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Humanitarianism
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Philanthropists
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Voluntarism
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| Genre/Form |
History
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| ISBN |
9781472920133 |
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1472920139 |
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