The colonialist mentality has contaminated philanthropy practices in Brazil, but there are transformative ways to overcome it
By Allyne Andrade e Silva and Graciela Hopstein
Traditionally, philanthropy has been structured around an extractive colonialist logic. Coloniality of power is a term coined by Anibal Quijano to characterize the typical pattern of global domination in the modern capitalist system, whose origins date back to European colonialism at the beginning of the 16th century. Throughout the colonial process, Europe positioned itself as the central point of civilization, most advanced in the development process, not only of politics and economics, but also of humanity itself.
According to Quijano, this also happens with the dominance 'of control models of subjectivity, culture and especially the production of knowledge'. Quijano identifies as the most important elements of Eurocentrism: a) a marked articulation of dualism (pre-capitalist/capitalist, non-European/European, primitive/civilized, traditional/modern, etc.) and the linear, unidirectional evolution of a state of nature for modern European society; b) the rationalization of cultural differences between human groups derived from the notion of race; and c) the temporal-distorted view of all these differences by seeing non-Europeans and their culture as anachronisms.
The colonial mentality in philanthropy
This Eurocentric and colonizing vision is expressed in hegemonic philanthropy in different ways. Firstly, there is a huge disconnect between who makes the funding decisions and who receives the donations/grants. Typically, it is people who live in countries and conditions very distant from those in which they are intervening who make decisions about agendas, adequate budgets, best solutions and priorities for movements and local communities. By and large, these decision makers do not represent or reflect the communities they purport to support, in terms of race, class, or gender.
Philanthropic coloniality is also extractive in that community leaders and local organizations are required to share their strategies, knowledge, detailed profiles of their members and quarterly, semi-annual and/or annual reports on their actions. On the other hand, there is little transparency about the amounts donated or the donors' strategies and criteria. Often it is not even known who the donors are.
All of this is the result of a hegemonic philanthropy that aims to determine which local issues are relevant, which movements deserve support, which are the best solutions and how they should be reported. Furthermore, there is an incessant production of dualities and, consequently, inequalities: between us, the financiers, and those financed; among us, citizens of democratic constitutional states and those who defend rights in developing countries or countries with dubious democracies; between us, who know the best questions to ask and report accordingly, and the people who receive the funding and need to be better trained.
The case of Brazil
Brazilian philanthropy felt the impact of coloniality. This is clear in its concepts, practices and ways of acting in the field. According to the GIFE Census, one of the main surveys on Brazilian philanthropy, business and family philanthropy has mobilized a significant volume of resources. In 2020, for example, around US$ 1.4 billion were invested in the social area. However, research shows that Brazilian philanthropy acts more in achieving than in donating resources to civil society. Only 16% of social investors are financiers who donate resources to third parties. Most maintain their own programs. Furthermore, GIFE data also shows that political minorities are not a priority, since only 5% of GIFE-affiliated philanthropic organizations directly finance initiatives focused on racial issues; 9% for women; 3% for LGBTIQA+ communities and 4% for people with disabilities.
The fundamental starting point for progress in promoting decolonized capital in Brazilian philanthropy is that it be seen as a movement of permanent deconstruction and a form of action in social reality, without imposing 'top-down' solutions, but, rather, strengthening voices and recognizing the power of communities to seek their own solutions to the problems they face.
Increasingly, the practice of trust-based donations is showing a way of working strategically to recognize the power of territorial initiatives and political minorities fighting for access to rights. Thematic funds and community foundations affiliated with the Philanthropy Network for Social Justice – which operate in the area of independent local philanthropy – have been providing crucial donations to NGOs, grassroots organizations, social movements and defenders of access to rights in Brazil.
Break with the legacy of colonialism
Thus, network members seek to do a different type of philanthropy. Donating to grassroots communities shows that the focus is on recognizing the strengths of civil society organizations, thus contributing to promoting transformations at various levels. The core of the work lies in strengthening civil society organizations that work to provide access to citizenship rights and the recognition of political minorities. In this way, it breaks with the legacy structures and understandings of colonization.
The decolonization process seeks to detach itself from the colonial, extractive and exploitative characteristics of the past. This implies a radical transformation, based on new alliances between territories and social actors, which leaves no room for a return to the previous state of conformity with the dominant and symbolic colonial power. A truly decolonized philanthropy cannot accept anything less.
Allyne Andrade e Silva She is deputy executive director of the Brazilian Human Rights Fund.
Graciela Hopstein She is the executive coordinator of Rede Comuá.
*Text originally published on the Alliance digital magazine website in English and translated for the Rede Comuá blog: ,https://www.alliancemagazine.org/feature/is-decolonising-philanthropy-making-headway/
