Philanthropy in the World's Traditions

Description

The only comprehensive survey of philanthropy outside of the Western tradition.

"The cross-cultural understandings this book provides can do much to help us determine the distinctive shape and form American religious philanthropy might take in the future." —Christian Century

"The provocative information challenges the assumptions that philanthropy is a primarily Western or Christian tradition, and it clarifies the need for additional study." —Choice

An investigation of how cultures outside the Western tradition understand philanthropy and how people in these cultures attempt to realize "the good" through giving and serving. These essays study philanthropy in Buddhist, Islamic, Hindu, Jewish, and Native American religious traditions and in cultures from Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

Introduction. Warren Ilchman, Stanley Katz, and Edward L. Queen, II
Part One: Non-Literate/Aboriginal Traditions
1. Reciprocity and Assistance in Precolonial Africa
Steven Feierman
2. A Comparative Study in Native American Philanthropy
John A. Grim
Part Two: Historical/Textual Roots
3. Contextualizing Philanthropy in South Asia: A Textual Analysis of Sanskrit Sources
Leona Anderson
4. Generosity and Service in Theravada Buddhism
Ananda W.P. Guruge and G.D. Bond
5. The Mahayana Buddhist Foundation for Philanthropic Practice
Leslie S. Kawamura
Part Three: Philanthropy in Context
6. Philanthropy, the Law, and Public Policy in the Islamic World before the Modern Era
Said Arjomand
7. Reflections on Chinese Philanthropy Based on the Case of Famine Relief in Shan-yin County,
Shao-hsing, 1640-1642
Joanna F. Handlin Smith
8. A View of Philanthropy in Japan: Confucian Ethics and Education
Mary Evelyn Tucker
Part Four: Philanthropy and Social Change
9. The Origins of Modern Jewish Philanthropy
Derek J. Penslar
10. Mount Holyoke Missionaries and Non-Western Women: The Motivations and Consequences of Nineteenth Century American Missionary Philanthropy
Amanda Porterfield
11. Orthodox Christianity, the Nation-State, and Philanthropy: Focus on the Serbian Orthodox Church
Miroslav Ruzica
Part Five: New Shoots, Old Roots
12. Hindu Philanthropy and Civil Society
Mark Juergensmeyer and Darrin M. McMahon
13. Religious Authority, Reform, and Philanthropy in the Contemporary Muslim World
Gregory C. Kozlowski
14. From Repression to Revival: Philanthropy in Twentieth-Century Russia
Adele Lindenmeyr
15. State Power and the Philanthropic Impulse in China Today
Vivienne B. Shue
16. Civil Society and Philanthropy in Latin America: From Religious Charity to the Search for Citizenship Andrés A. Thompson and Leilah Landim
Contributors
Index

Sujets

• Asian Studies
• Social Science
• Charities
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Religión
• África
• Charity
• Charitable organization
• Philanthropy
• Anthropology
• Philantropy
• Religion
• Africa
• Asia

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 22 septembre 1998
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253112927
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

PHILANTHROPY IN THE WORLD S TRADITIONS
PHILANTHROPIC STUDIES
Robert L. Payton and Dwight F. Burlingame, GENERAL EDITORS
ALBERT B. ANDERSON Ethics for Fundraisers
KAREN J. BLAIR The Torchbearers: Women and Their Amateur Arts Associations in America
DWIGHT F. BURLINGAME, EDITOR The Responsibilities of Wealth
DWIGHT F. BURLINGAME AND DENNIS YOUNG, EDITORS Corporate Philanthropy at the Crossroads
MARCOS CUETO, EDITOR Missionaries of Science: The Rockefeller Foundation and Latin America
GREGORY EISELEIN Literature and Humanitarian Reform in the Civil War Era
JEROME L. HIMMELSTEIN Looking Good and Doing Good: Corporate Philanthropy and Corporate Power
THOMAS H. JEAVONS When the Bottom Line Is Faithfulness: Management of Christian Service Organizations
MIKE W. MARTIN Virtuous Giving: Philanthropy, Voluntary Service, and Caring
MARY J. OATES The Catholic Philanthropic Tradition in America
J. B. SCHNEEWIND, EDITOR Giving: Western Ideas of Philanthropy
DAVID H. SMITH Entrusted: The Moral Responsibilities of Trusteeship
PHILANTHROPY IN THE WORLD S TRADITIONS

Edited by Warren F. Ilchman, Stanley N. Katz, and Edward L. Queen II
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Philanthropy in the world s traditions / edited by Warren F. Ilchman, Stanley N. Katz, and Edward L. Queen, II. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-253-33392-X (cl : alk. paper) 1. Charities-Cross-cultural studies. 2. Charities-History- Cross-cultural studies. 3. Social service-Cross-cultural studies. 4. Social service-History-Cross-cultural studies. 5. Social service-Religious aspects. I. Ilchman, Warren Frederick. II. Katz, Stanley Nider. III. Queen, Edward L. HV16.P46 1998 361.7 632 09-dc21 97-51241
1 2 3 4 5 03 02 01 00 99 98
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION / WARREN F. ILCHMAN, STANLEY N. KATZ, AND EDWARD L. QUEEN II
PART ONE: NON-LITERATE/ABORIGINAL TRADITIONS
I. Reciprocity and Assistance in Precolonial Africa / STEVEN FEIERMAN
II. A Comparative Study in Native American Philanthropy / JOHN A. GRIM
PART TWO: HISTORICAL/TEXTUAL ROOTS
III. Contextualizing Philanthropy in South Asia: A Textual Analysis of Sanskrit Sources / LEONA ANDERSON
IV. Generosity and Service in Therav da Buddhism / ANANDA W. P. GURUGE AND G. D. BOND
V. The Mah y na Buddhist Foundation for Philanthropic Practices / LESLIE S. KAWAMURA
PART THREE: PHILANTHROPY IN CONTEXT
VI. Philanthropy, the Law, and Public Policy in the Islamic World before the Modern Era / SAID AMIR ARJOMAND
VII. Chinese Philanthropy As Seen through a Case of Famine Relief in the 1640s / JOANNA F. HANDLIN SMITH
VIII. A View of Philanthropy in Japan: Confucian Ethics and Education / MARY EVELYN TUCKER
PART FOUR: PHILANTHROPY AND SOCIAL CHANGE
IX. The Origins of Modern Jewish Philanthropy / DEREK J. PENSLAR
X. Mount Holyoke Missionaries and Non-Western Women: The Motivations and Consequences of Nineteenth-Century American Missionary Philanthropy / AMANDA PORTERFIELD
XI. Orthodox Christianity, the Nation-State, and Philanthropy: Focus on the Serbian Orthodox Church / MIROSLAV RU ICA
PART FIVE: NEW SHOOTS, OLD ROOTS
XII. Hindu Philanthropy and Civil Society / MARK JUERGENSMEYER AND DARRIN M. McMAHON
XIII. Religious Authority, Reform, and Philanthropy in the Contemporary Muslim World / GREGORY C. KOZLOWSKI
XIV. From Repression to Revival: Philanthropy in Twentieth-Century Russia / ADELE LINDENMEYR
XV. State Power and the Philanthropic Impulse in China Today / VIVIENNE SHUE
XVI. Civil Society and Philanthropy in Latin America: From Religious Charity to the Search for Citizenship / ANDR S A. THOMPSON AND LEILAH LANDIM
CONTRIBUTORS
INDEX
INTRODUCTION
WARREN F. ILCHMAN, STANLEY N. KATZ, AND EDWARD L. QUEEN II
This book represents a significant addition to the comparative study of philanthropy and culture. In no other volume have a variety of area specialists been asked to turn their attention to the role of philanthropy-of giving and sharing beyond the family-in the life of a particular culture at a particular time. 1 That so little attention has been paid to this subject is surprising. One need only consider the role that philanthropy has played in defining and sustaining numerous religious traditions, e.g., Buddhism, in the establishment of a wide range of educational and cultural institutions, and, perhaps most visibly, the construction of innumerable public buildings and facilities-roads, khans, fountains, etc. The sheer magnitude of this construction undertaken throughout history should have made that activity a prime candidate for study. However, such has not been the case.
The presumption at the outset of this work was that something called philanthropy -rooted in the ethical notions of giving and serving to those beyond one s family-probably existed in most cultures and in most historical periods, and that it often was driven by religious traditions. In making this presumption, however, the editors recognized the difficulty in choosing an appropriate generic term for the activities we hoped the authors would examine. In dealing with many cultures in a variety of historical periods, the editors realized that we would run up against the problem of overidentifying what was culturally possible. Just as it would be inappropriate to condemn those in the fourteenth century for failing to make the necessary hygienic responses to the outbreak of the Black Death, so it would be inappropriate to look for nineteenth/twentieth-century North Atlantic understandings of philanthropy in other times and places. For that reason, we have dispensed with the charity/philanthropy distinction. The distinction is of recent invention, linked with a belief in instrumental rationality, progress, and professionalization. Absent these realities, as well as the existence of the modern state, either the distinction makes no sense, or there can be no philanthropy. All that would be left for the subject matter of these essays would be charity, good deeds, and beneficence. This may be a valid way of approaching the issue, but it leaves open the question of what generic term identifies these seemingly related activities. The editors decided, therefore, to retain philanthropy as the most useful term to connect this set of behaviors and activities sharing marked family resemblances. Certainly in many ways it is a vague abstraction, but so are the state, the law, and religion and we find ways to talk about them. Although there remain ragged edges where clarity eludes us, we usually find these concepts understandable and useful both in ordinary language and in academic discourse. There is no reason why philanthropy should be any less useful.
In this volume philanthropy, understood primarily as activities of voluntary giving and serving to others beyond one s family, is the collective term. In using it we owe a debt to Robert Payton s definition of philanthropy as voluntary action for the public good. 2 Encompassing as it does the activities of voluntary giving, voluntary service, and voluntary association, this definition helps us analyze the role philanthropy plays in different cultures and in people s attempts to realize their understandings of the good through actions or donations. One of the significant results is that philanthropic acts become the preeminent means by which people attempt to realize their understanding of cultural values, to practice what their culture preaches.
People s attempts to realize these values through giving and serving often can be fraught with controversy and peril, especially when others view them as factional or when rulers interpret the activities as assaults upon the legitimacy or adequacy of their rule or as attempts to elevate oneself at the ruler s expense. These issues, raised in several of the essays, serve as a clear reminder that philanthropy as a public phenomenon is not always viewed as good by everyone. 3
The task assigned to the various authors as specialists was to discern the distinctive form that philanthropy took in different historical periods and in different cultures, to describe the ways in which it worked, to articulate why it was formed this way or these ways, and, if possible, to address the relative importance of philanthropy within the culture and its predominant religious tradition. As these latter sentences suggest, the editors assumed that philanthropy was not a free-floating activity separated from the complex elements of the societies in which it resided, but was influenced, indeed structured, by the specificity of particular cultures.
In making this assumption the editors acted upon a particular set of understandings about culture, namely that culture is not primarily complexes of behavi