Browsing by Author "Nuutinen, Johannes"

The study explores, what is philanthrocapitalism and its spirit, and maps some of its historical continuities and discontinuities when the phenomenon is positioned in the juxtaposition of capitalism and development. Philanthrocapitalism is philanthropic giving by the wealthy new elites, that conflates business and social goals through corporatist practices. The study is based on a critical hermeneutic interpretation of key philanthropic texts written to clarify the phenomena and form its cultural basis. Theoretically the study is informed by a Weberian lineage of studying the culture of capitalism, and the rationalities and subjectivities of capitalism. The study demonstrates, how philanthrocapitalism ushers in a specific type of subjectivity and spirit based on a hacker-subject, and engrained in a market-driven, technology-focused rationality inclined towards taking risks. Philanthrocapitalism’s value hierarchy is rationalized through an informational network similar to that of soft capitalism, which ultimately leads to the conflating philanthrocapitalism with soft capitalism. Further, the phenomenon has a distinct culture with specific rules, logiques, and ways of rearticulating value, which opens up different ways of historicizing it. Philanthrocapitalism is seen as a vehicle for a newly-established global elite to invoke moral legitimation and social stability for their accumulated wealth. Simultaneously the phenomenon enables the marketization of development, which marginalizes other forms of knowledge and subjectivity embedded in discourses of development. Philanthrocapitalism can, therefore, be interpreted as a new formation of the continuing renegotiation of the nexus of capitalism and development.