Perché e come studiare la filantropia. Appunti per un’agenda di ricerca

The current debate on philanthropy, while following the established research path on the nature and social determinants of giving, considers the close interweaving of charity and business as the distinctive, innovative core of the phenomenon. The article aims at moving this debate forward by outlining a research agenda on the most recent developments of philanthropy at the global level and identifying four main directions of investigation: philanthrocapitalism; financialization; knowledge; élites. We argue that the connections among them, highlighted through the identification of what is actually new in philanthropy today, can contribute to the sociological understanding of the phenomenon, enlightening the enduring tension between embedding and dis-embedding of economy in society and the changing relationship among economy, expertise and political power.