El Departamento Académico de Ciencia Política le invita al Seminario de Investigación:

"Philanthropy, Democracy, and Paternalism."

Emma Saunders-Hastings will discuss arguments from her new book Private Virtues, Public Vices: Philanthropy and Democratic Equality (University of Chicago Press, 2022). The book develops a political theory of philanthropy and its relationship to democracy. Philanthropy plays a significant role in supporting the provision of many public goods in contemporary societies. As a result, decisions that affect public outcomes and people’s diverse interests are often dependent on the preferences and judgments of the rich. Saunders-Hastings explains how this situation threatens important democratic values and offers proposals for reform. Philanthropy can deepen political inequality by enabling the wealthy to exercise outsize influence in public life and by putting in place paternalistic relationships between donors and their intended beneficiaries. If philanthropy is to be made compatible with a democratic society of equals, it must be judged not simply on the immediate benefits it brings but on its wider political consequences.