Giving Thought

In episode 77 we talk to Jon Dean, Senior Lecturer in Politics & Sociology at Sheffield Hallam University, about his new book The Good Glow: Charity and the Symbolic Power of Doing Good. Including:   What role does the way in which our charitable actions are viewed by others play in shaping our giving? Is the “warm glow” of giving always dependent on one’s acts being visible to others, or can it be entirely personal? Does the symbolic power of giving diminish if others are aware of how this functions? (i.e. once we suspect that charity is motivated partly a desire for social status, does that reduce our willingness to play along?) To what extent has the halo effect of philanthropy been deliberately used by the wealthy to preclude or offset wider criticism (e.g. of their tax affairs, business practices etc.)? What happens if critiques of philanthropy undermine its symbolic value to the donor? (i.e. if people’s default mode is scepticism or cynicism, does this lessen the appeal to the donor of making publi