Philanthropy in the Worlds Traditions [Hardcover]

The cross-cultural understandings this book provides can do much to help us determine the distinctive shape and form American religious philanthropy might take in the future. Christian Century

The provocative information challenges the assumptions that philanthropy is a primarily Western or Christian tradition, and it clarifies the need for additional study. Choice

An investigation of how cultures outside the Western tradition understand philanthropy and how people in these cultures attempt to realize the good through giving and serving. These essays study philanthropy in Buddhist, Islamic, Hindu, Jewish, and Native American religious traditions and in cultures from Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

Introduction. Warren Ilchman, Stanley Katz, and Edward L. Queen, II
Part One: Non-Literate/Aboriginal Traditions
1. Reciprocity and Assistance in Precolonial Africa
Steven Feierman
2. A Comparative Study in Native American Philanthropy
John A. Grim
Part Two: Historical/Textual Roots
3. Contextualizing Philanthropy in South Asia: A Textual Analysis of Sanskrit Sources
Leona Anderson
4. Generosity and Service in Theravada Buddhism
Ananda W.P. Guruge and G.D. Bond
5. The Mahayana Buddhist Foundation for Philanthropic Practice
Leslie S. Kawamura
Part Three: Philanthropy in Context
6. Philanthropy, the Law, and Public Policy in the Islamic World before the Modern Era
Said Arjomand
7. Reflections on Chinese Philanthropy Based on the Case of Famine Relief in Shan-yin County,
Shao-hsing, 1640-1642
Joanna F. Handlin Smith
8. A View of Philanthropy in Japan: Confucian Ethics and Education
Mary Evelyn Tucker
Part Four: Philanthropy and Social Change
9. The Origins of Modern Jewish Philanthropy
Derek J. Penslar
10. Mount Holyoke Missionaries and Non-Western Women: The Motivations and Consequences of Nineteenth Century American Missionary Philanthropy