September 4, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
NEW BOOKS
Philanthropists & Foundation Globalization
by Joseph C. Kiger
Grant making by U.S. foundations to overseas causes has grown sharply since the world wars, writes Joseph C. Kiger, a former professor of history at the University of Mississippi, in this chronicle of international giving.
Mr. Kiger traces philanthropy from its roots in Egypt, China, and early Judeo-Christian societies, to English colonialism in the United States, to the creation of billion-dollar grant makers like the Gates and Ford foundations. He offers brief biographies of 25 philanthropists and the roots of their 50 or so grant-making institutions, and specifically their international philanthropy.
The book’s chapters provide background information on philanthropists including George Peabody, Henry Ford, W.K. Kellogg, Henry Luce, W. Alton Jones, George Soros, and Bill and Melinda Gates, as well as their entries into — or retreats from — making grants to support causes outside the United States.
The author summarizes investigations and studies into philanthropy and international giving. He discusses Congressional committees that out of curiosity or suspicion studied foundations’ motives for giving money, as well as more-recent reports on overseas activities issued by the Foundation Center.
Mr. Kiger also devotes a section of his book to giving from U.S. foundations to Central and Eastern Europe. He covers how the institutions participated in the collapse of the Communist governments in that region and how they have supported groups there, particularly civil-society organizations.
Publisher: Transaction Publishers, Rutgers University, 35 Berrue Circle, Piscataway, N.J. 08854; (732) 445-2280; fax (732) 445-3138; http://www.transactionpub.com; 188 pages; $49.95; ISBN 978-1-4128-0673-2.
