Through an examination of the Chicago Initiative, a local collaboration created by foundations and corporate funders following the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, Ira Silver analyzes how elite philanthropists exercise social control over community organizations that do work in poor neighbourhoods. Silver's book investigates how community-based organizations strategically attempt to assert influence over foundation funding priorities. The book draws upon several years of qualitative research about comprehensive community initiatives undertaken by philanthropic foundations during the eighties and...

Through an examination of the Chicago Initiative, a local collaboration created by foundations and corporate funders following the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, Silver analyses how elite philanthropists exercise social control over community organisations that do work in poor neighbourhoods.

We hear a lot these days about the growing rich-poor gap and how it is undermining the American dream. A telling indicator is that hard work is no longer the sure-bet ticket to getting ahead it once was. Millions who struggle to make ends meet have little realistic chance of achieving a better life. And for the rest of us, it's all too easy to believe there's little we can do to mitigate this hardship. We often sigh at the magnitude of inequality, seeing personal stories of misfortune as tiny drops within a huge ocean of need. Giving Hope is an antidote to this pessimism. It outlines ways...