Philanthropy and Education. An Alternative between Generosity and Democracy?

In his recent study on social inequalities entitled Capital et idéologie, Thomas Piketty dedicates some interesting observations to the role of philanthropy in financing and directing education both in advanced capitalist countries and in less developed economies. Essentially, according to Piketty, philanthropy paradoxically helps to deepen inequalities in three ways: subtracting large sums of money from the finances of countries; contributing to the strengthening of a meritocratic ideology that celebrates success and blames the losers; financing schools and universities according to the neoliberal model in a fundamentally undemocratic way. Starting from this, the article intends to offer some further reflections focusing mainly on the following four questions: A) What cultural and ideological vision explains the success of philanthropic foundations established in the United States and often committed to funding educational projects? B) To what extent can or should philanthropic Anglo-Saxon experiences be exported to Europe, in a cultural and regulatory context other than that of the United States? C) How is philanthropic capitalism affecting the development of education, both in the United States and in Europe? D) Does the philanthropic model pose a threat to democratic education? To conclude, a reflection on whether the ‘America Syndrome’ or, more precisely, on whether the mutual influence between US and European or Italian education policies and models in particular, should also pay attention both to the role and possible developments of philanthropic financing.