How Foundations Are Undermining America's Social Change & Public Interest Movements

Posted 3/24/06

Subject: The Revolution Will Not Be Funded
From Adbusters Magazine (Canada) The Secret to Being as Radical as We Want to Be is to Finance the
Revolution Ourselves

By Michael Shuman and Merrian Fuller

If Mohandas Gandhi were a typical North American activist these days, he
would probably be wearing a three-piece suit and working in a plush office
with his law degree prominently displayed. He would have little time to
lead protests, since every other week would be spent meeting with donors -
and those power lunches would hardly go well with fasting. He would be
careful to avoid salt marches or cotton boycotts, so as not to offend key
donors. To sharpen his annual pitch to foundations, he would be constantly
dreaming up new one-year projects on narrowly focused topics, perhaps a
one-time conference on English human-rights abuses, or a documentary on
anti-colonial activities in New Delhi. To ensure that various allies
didn't steal away core funders, he would keep his distance and be inclined
to trash talk behind their backs. In short, there's little doubt that the
British would still be running India.

The problem with activism today is that it is largely funded by grants and
gifts from rich foundations and individuals. The long-standing assumption
that you can take the money with few strings attached, and then run, needs
to be fundamentally reexamined. LINK