May 16, 2010 | Read Time: 1 minute
Civil Society, Philanthropy, and the Fate of the Commons
by Bruce R. Sievers
Foundations find themselves in a conundrum as they are expected to act in the public good by reducing gaps in education, health care, and the like, but are encouraged more and more to embrace market forces, writes Bruce R. Sievers, an adjunct professor for the Institute for Nonprofit Organization Management at the University of San Francisco.
Mr. Sievers, who previously served as executive director of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, in San Francisco writes that foundations are less likely to approach social ills by valuing pluralism and collective action and are increasingly apt “to pursue narrowly focused, self-directed programs that promise market-like results.”
Civil society, he argues, is the key to resolving the tension between individual interests and public good.
The book also discusses the rise of “scientific philanthropy,” the creation of foundations by extremely wealthy people such as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller to systematically achieve specific social results and run by scholars and professionals.
Publisher: University Press of New England, 1 Court Street, Suite 250, Lebanon, N.H. 03766-1446; (800) 421-1561; fax (603) 448-9429; http://www.upne.com; 205 pages; $29.95; ISBN 978-1-58465-895-5.
