"Red philanthropy": strategies of legitimisation and networked corporatism in Chinas nonprofit ecosystem
Partecipanti al progetto
- Andornino Giovanni B. (Responsabile)
- Mariano Virginia (Tecnico)
Descrizione del progetto
While the notion of charity is embedded in the ethical premises of Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism, China’s charitable tradition stagnated under Mao’s rule and only recently has a secular practice of philanthropy emerged as a kind of giving that would lead to a more sustainable improvement of public life. This project aims to investigate the rationale behind large-scale individual philanthropy in China, conceptualising it as a particular instance of networked corporatism. The main hypothesis is that wealthy entrepreneurs and families in China pursue a similar strategy of legitimisation on three separate but interlocking levels. First, within the fundamental political realm, in recognition of the octroyé nature of their success in business, they allow their philanthropic agendas to be structured by government priorities and thus opt to become decentralised agents of China’s modernisation. Second, at the societal level, they target local needs in an attempt to legitimise their increasing informal power by maximising popular goodwill toward the donor and his/her kin. Finally, a cultural dimension comes into play to the extent that Chinese philanthropists are influenced by a consolidated global trend that sees the very rich - both in the West, as well as within the Chinese cultural koiné (e.g. Hong Kong) - commit ample resources to join the exclusive ranks of a "cosmopolitan ethical élite" of ultra-high networked individuals who generate both material (e.g. social investment), as well as intangible value through philanthropy. This research project is developed within the TOChina Hub, a partnership of the TOChina Centre of the University of Turin, the Torino World Affairs Institute and ESCP Business School.
Risultati e pubblicazioni
Philanthropy and Social Innovation in China
2021-01-01 andornino giovanni; wang qinghong https://iris.unito.it/handle/2318/1810888