Editor's Introduction The Hidden Hand: How Foundations Shape the Course of History

• Date: 01 September 2015
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12116
• Published date: 01 September 2015

The AMERICAN JOURNAL of

ECONOMICS and SOCIOLOGY

Published Q U A R T E R L Y in the interest of constructive

synthesis in the social sciences, under grants from the FRANCIS

NEILSON FUND and the ROBERT SCHALKENBACH FOUNDATION.

Founded in 1941

Volume 74 September 2015 Number 4

Editor’s Introduction

The Hidden Hand: How Foundations Shape

the Course of History

We may have democracy, or we may have the concentration of wealth in

the hands of a few, but we can’t have both. (Louis Brandeis, quoted in

Dillard 1941:42)

If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry

about the answers. (Pynchon 1973: 251)

In this issue, we critically examine the influence of a few large foun-

dations on the lives of people around the world.

1

These major founda-

tions—ones with assets of more than a billion dollars and a desire to

achieve specific goals through participation in public events—are

powerful because they are able to shape the contours of public dia-

logue on important issues. These initiatives occur particularly when cri-

ses occur and confidence in mainstream thought gives way to

uncertainty. Several crises could arise that would provoke foundations

to intervene to preserve the status quo with only modest changes. For

example, growing concern about economic inequality could begin to

produce new political alignments. Protests over wanton police violence

toward African Americans could lead to demands for radical change.

On a global level, initiatives by other nations could challenge the

American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 74, No. 4 (September, 2015).

DOI: 10.1111/ajes.12116

V

C2015 American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Inc.

economic dominance of the United States. Although the major U.S.

foundations have no official authority in maintaining stability and order

either domestically or abroad, the authors in this issue will reveal that

they play a decisive role in that process.

The public seldom notices the strategic role played by foundations in

setting the agenda for public discussion, and most foundations have

preferred to keep a low profile. Unlike political leaders, who must pres-

ent themselves to the public and be subject to ridicule, slander, and per-

iodic review, the great foundations (and some of the lesser ones)

operate in relative obscurity, far above the madding crowd. The foun-

dations function much like Greek gods on Mt. Olympus: sources of

arbitrary power to whom we pray for good fortune.

2

From those lofty heights, the big foundations have at times promoted

economic development, public health, education, political participation,

a healthier environment, and dozens of other worthy goals. They have

occasionally been at the cutting edge in developing strategies for

change in social policy. For example, when the Carnegie Corporation

contracted with Gunnar Myrdal to write An American Dilemma,the

result was a path-breaking analysis of how the “white man’s problem”

in the United States has permeated American culture and contradicted

the na

€

ıve optimism in moral progress that is the creed uniting American

society (Myrdal 1944: liii). That contrarian way of thinking about the

problem of race still remains beyond the ken of most white Americans,

which is a testament to how much it departed at the time from conven-

tional wisdom. This kind of inspired thinking has, from time to time,

characterized initiatives of the major foundations.

The implementation of innovative, socially enlightened programs by

foundations, when political leaders were afraid to act, has created an

enormous reservoir of goodwill towards foundations. In one sense, that

appreciation is deserved, but in another sense, the seemingly noble

deeds of foundations comprise a fac¸ ade. We need to look deeper and

question the image of foundations. To think realistically about founda-

tions, we must overcome the belief that they are temples of enlightened

virtue, seeking only to do good, limited only by the size of their budg-

ets. The purpose here is not to carp about foundations, as some dis-

gruntled grant-seekers may do. The critique developed in this issue is

rather that philanthropy stands in the way of deeper change by

The American Journal of Economics and Sociology632