{UAH} Municipal crises and global urban governance: Can philanthropy save the city?

MUNICIPAL CRISES AND GLOBAL URBAN GOVERNANCE: CAN PHILANTHROPY SAVE THE CITY?

Call for papers: Urban Affairs Association annual conference (April
2-4, 2020, Washington DC)
Organizers: Rachel Bok (University of British Columbia) and Emily
Rosenman (Penn State University)

It is a golden age for global philanthropy. Amidst cascading social,
ecological, and economic crises, philanthropic actors increasingly
traffic in grants, investments, and (claims to) technical expertise to
set agendas for global urban futures. The Rockefeller Foundation's
short-lived 100 Resilient Cities initiative, for instance, introduced
the concept of 'resilience' into the vocabulary of mainstream urban
policy. Bloomberg Philanthropies has made uneven incursions into
various channels of urban 'innovation', laying claim to a global
network of cities. The Hong Kong Jockey Club has begun convening
philanthropists to discuss solutions for 'better cities'. Cities need
saving, so it would seem, and philanthropic actors trumpet their
ability to provide this salvation through good intentions and
generosity.

Many emergent forms of 'nonprofit governance' (Reckhow et al., 2019)
remain nebulous in terms of their conception, implementation, and
scalar reach. This begs the question of how philanthropy might
restructure contemporary urban governance both locally and globally.
Meanwhile, there is growing criticism of how philanthropic activities
in cities are, in many cases, related to and made possible by
detrimental processes such as extractive real estate development,
expanding carbon footprints, and the displacement of already
marginalized populations. There remain, in other words, unanswered and
urgent questions surrounding the costs and contradictions of 'doing
good', not least questions of accountability and equity for cities.
This panel aims to probe the relationship between philanthropy and
21st-century urban governance, broadly defined. Among many potential
topics, papers might address the following:
· How do philanthropic foundations define cities? Which aspects
of urban governance – and parts of the city – do they choose to
target?
· Does philanthropic activity emerging from the technology
industry differ from legacy philanthropy's relationship with urban
governance?
· How does philanthropic capital flow into cities and regions -
and which ones? Is philanthropy supplementing, substituting for,
and/or otherwise augmenting municipal budgets, and with what effects?
· How do the agendas of global, cross-border philanthropic
foundations filter into urban policies and urban solutions? In other
words, what are the consequences of philanthropy for the nature of
urban governance and state power at different scales?
· What are the relationships between philanthropic activities
stemming from, and rooted in, Northern/advanced economies and the
governance of cities across the globe? How does philanthropy fit into
ongoing processes of colonization, both at home and abroad?
· What happens when philanthropic foundations leave cities?
Inherent here are questions of accountability and equity.

Interested presenters should submit an abstract of no more than 300
words to bokrachel@gmail.com and ekr5260@psu.edu by September 24,
2019. We will reply to all submissions by September 27, 2019.

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