Giving to Help, Helping to Give by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Amalion
Published: 2014-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Reflecting on the definition of social justice discussed earlier and the first two strands of thought derived from the literature, this research initially proceeded with the following preliminary definition of social justice philanthropy:

Philanthropy aimed at addressing the structural issues and barriers that prevent (i) the recognition of equal rights for all, (ii) equitable opportunities to access those rights and (iii) the realization of those rights into just outcomes for those who bear the brunt of poverty, marginalization, vulnerability, oppression and discrimination.

The issue of imposed northern concepts is important to consider in any social science research. According to Everatt et al. (2005:276), much of the literature on philanthropy originates in the north, with the result that many existing definitions fail to reflect the rich traditions of giving in multicultural contexts. Everatt et al. (2005:277) and Kuljian (2005:5) also note the unease with which the terms philanthropy and charity are used, and the foreign connotations and assumptions that these bring with them; and Wilkinson-Maposa’s ‘Poor Philanthropist’ (2006) and Everatt and Solanki (2005) radically challenge some of these assumptions. My research findings corroborate this. For instance, the term social justice is used by only a handful of IFs to articulate their work, and they use it in relation to notions of rights, equality, equity, freedom, fairness and justice. The larger proportion of organizations, however, prefer to talk about a just society or about development, referring to terms such as equal rights, benefits to all, justice for all, a conducive environment, serving the public good and poverty alleviation. Many IFs feel that the concept social justice is an imported one that does not have much resonance for them. The term social justice philanthropy is not used at all by the organizations in the study. Preferring to use language they feel is understandable both to them and to the communities they work with, some articulate their work as efforts aimed at change, rights, justice, a just society or addressing root causes.

With regards to the barriers to engaging with social justice philanthropy, there is a fair amount of practitioner literature on the challenges in the United States and Canadian contexts (e.g. Carson 2003; NCRP 2003; Shaw 2005; Heller and Winder 2002; and Lawrence et al. 2005). The literature provides lists of challenges and barriers, but no substantive interrogation of these. Analysis reveals that these lists can be demarcated according to factors that are internal or external to the organization. The external factors relate to (i) the possible inhibiting political or regulatory environment; (ii) the agendas and interests of larger donors and; (iii) the absence of a cohesive field of social justice philanthropy organizations. The internal factors relate to (i) the quality of leadership; (ii) limited understanding of underlying contexts; (ii) risk aversion; (iv) sustainability concerns; and (v) perceived limitations of philanthropy.

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