The Subversiveness of Charity

Ford Foundation president Darren Walker has just published an online book, From Generosity to Justice: A New Gospel of Wealth. As the title suggests, he draws upon an enduring trope of the American foundation world, namely that charity or generosity—small, direct, face-to-face giving—is hardly adequate to meet the pressing needs of the day. For that, we need philanthropy, or justice, or some much-larger and more-comprehensive approach that will truly get to the heart of our problems.