The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex

by INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence (Editor)

book data

258 ratings, 4.39 average rating, 91 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		52%
4		35%
3		9%
2		1%
1		0%

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published

March 1st 2007 by South End Press

binding

Paperback, 256 pages

isbn

0896087662 (isbn13: 9780896087668)

description

A $1.3 trillion industry, the US nonprofit sector is the world's seventh largest economy. From art museums and university hospitals to think tanks and...more

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05/31/08

Nichole Ketcherside rated it:

Read in January, 2009

I found this book really validating to read. Having worked in social services for the last couple of years I was really starting to feel like their was something wrong with the way things were being done, and I was constantly frustrated with the lack of accountability that the agency I work for has for its constituents.

Before having read this book I was planning on going to graduate school and getting an MSW even though I knew I didn't want to be a social service or state social work...more

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11/09/07

Jessica added it

bookshelves: social-work-or-relevant

Read in November, 2007

recommends it for: maybe people who haven't already thought of this stuff

At times I start getting really, really burnt out on radical leftist complaining. This is one of those times, probably because I've read too much of it recently for school.

I don't know. So far this book reminds me of that great cartoon from years ago of the artist who's painted a picture of a guy in glasses and a suit and underneath it the letters "FUCKING ASSHO" only apparently the artist has just run out of paint, because he's turning to the guy standing next to him -- th...more

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08/01/07

Paul Gordon rated it:

Read in April, 2007

recommends it for: non-profit employees

Wow. I love books that completely change my way of looking at the world. This is the kind of book that you can't help bringing up in conversations for months after it's over.

This is great for anyone who is working for social change, and is still trying to figure out the best way to do that. Basically, this anthology discusses the ways in which the non-profit industry may actually be limiting our capacity to create real revolutionary change in the U.S. and abroad. Although non-pro...more

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05/23/07

Pete rated it:

This is a freakin' excellent book. I think Steph is next up and then we can share around?!?

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5 comments

11/23/08

Hoby rated it:

Read in February, 2009

Excellent excellent book. Before reading this, I'd never really known what Foundations were or what they did most of the time. Now I do.. turns out most of them are up to no good!

As someone who has been wanting to work for non-profits for a while and lately wanting to start my own non-profits, this book has been a very important eye-opener for what it means to have different funding sources and organizational structures - what it means to the work you're trying to accomplish. If I ev...more

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09/07/08

Chris rated it:

Read in December, 2008

A book I did not realize was so impactful, but this text is pretty well known among the non-profit types. As a new non-profit worker, I am challenged by the text's premise: how the heirarchization and corporatization of the non-profit sector may undermine the radical social transformation it is predicated upon. I am not sure all non-profits are dedicated to this violent social revolutionary agenda, however, and wonder about "moderate" non-profits that want to work with a broad spectr...more

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08/13/08

Kyla! rated it:

bookshelves: anarchism-and-socialchange

Read in September, 2008

recommends it for: those trying to support themselves and dismantle the system

How do we know if we are being co-opted into contributing to a ruling-class agenda and just providing social service, or if we are truly helping people get together? We cannot know ourselves. We cannot know just from some people telling us that we are doing a good job or even telling us that we are making a difference. We cannot know by whether we feel good about what we do. Popularity, status, good feeling, positive feedback-- our institutions and communities provide these to many people eng...more How do we know if we are being co-opted into contributing to a ruling-class agenda and just providing social service, or if we are truly helping people get together? We cannot know ourselves. We cannot know just from some people telling us that we are doing a good job or even telling us that we are making a difference. We cannot know by whether we feel good about what we do. Popularity, status, good feeling, positive feedback-- our institutions and communities provide these to many people engaged in inmmoral, unethical, dangerous, exploitative, abusive, and illegal activities.

As a member of the buffer zone [Non-profit workers], whether by job function or economic position, the key question we must confront is this: To whom are we accountable?"

Incite! Women of Color Against Violence pulls off another creative, harshly critical, and brilliantly articulated anthology. The book asks activists: How can we challenge patriarchy, white supremacy, environmental injustice, US-hegemony and imperialism when US progressive social movements are dependent on non-profits?

The non profit system pays activists to temper their revolt to keep it palatable for funders and turns grassroots social movements into professionalized client service providers. It has effectively undermined revolt in this country. "Non-profit" is by definition a tax-status awarded by the US government! And foundation funds are capital earned by the wealthy and shielded from redistribution by their foundation status.

This book examines the history of how social movements in the 60s and 70s became the professional non-profits of today. It examines critically the problems of patriarchy and white supremacy that made those mass-based social movements unsustainable. And finally, it speaks to the successes of horizontal, anti-capitalist, movements in Latin America and South Africa of networked, consensus-driven autonomous areas. Localization and decentralization helps people claim domestic space as political-- these movements take care of participants' immediate needs so they don't need to search for funding to pay staff.

I'm pretty fuckin inspired. The best essays were:
*The introduction - history of foundations and who controls the money, to who's advantage.
*"Social Service or Social Change?" - Critical look at the de-politicization of social justice movements as they increasingly took on serving people's basic needs as the Reagan admin reduced people's ablity to meet these themselves
*"Pursuing a Radical Anti-Violence Agenda Inside/Outside a Non-Profit Structure" - A good case study from the anti-violence movement
*"Are the Cops in Our Heads and Heats?" - Much needed lessons of successful mass-based organizing from Latin America

The major flaw of this work is the lack of practical applications for US activists currently wrapped up in the non-profit system. The only option offered seemed to be: "drop the funding, quit your non-profit job, and volunteer instead." This isn't always feasible-- as one of the articles actually states, one of the main reasons non-profits are so popular is that they allow staff to earn an income while still contributing to the movement, even if the contribution is compromised by the non-profit structure. But while dropping a job to create a niche of childcare collectives and urban permaculture enclaves is appealing and important, in the US, it is not nearly enough. It's essential that we take critiques like this a step farther, and figure out how to provide ourselves with personal needs even as we aggressively take on the increasingly urgent tasks of stopping globalization, imperialism, and environmental destruction.(less)

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05/16/08

Polly Trout rated it:

Read in May, 2008

This book is great! It is a collection of essays and some of them are fabulous. My favorite was an essay by Paul Kivel called "Social Service or Social Change?" which you can read online here:

http://paulkivel.com/articles/socialserv...

There is also a really exciting essay by Alisa Bierra of Seattle's own Communities Against Rape and Abuse (CARA) called "Pursuing a Radical Antiviolence Agenda Inside/Outside a Non-Profit Structure" that advocates a peer b...more

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05/07/08

Stina rated it:

Read in May, 2008

This anthology discusses the problems with 501(c)3 nonprofits and the reliance on foundation money. Can groups that rely on capitalist loot for their funding ever truly challenge the system?
The first time I read The Revolution Will Not Be Funded, I was working within the 501(c)3 system, and this book helped me find words for the frustration I was feeling (such as having to make projects more palatable to donors by including pictures of starving - but cute - children), and understanding wh...more

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01/12/08

jessi lee rated it:

Read in February, 2008

recommends it for: people who think about radical social change alot

This is a skinny book, but each article is alot to think about.
I've been excited about the discussions that incite! is raising around the idea of the non-profit industrial complex. every social change organization that i've been involved with has had pain and conflict and compromises and inability to surface conflict around money/funding issues. so i think i place alot of unfair expectations on this book--i want answers. i want to be effective & take care of relationships & survive in...more This is a skinny book, but each article is alot to think about.
I've been excited about the discussions that incite! is raising around the idea of the non-profit industrial complex. every social change organization that i've been involved with has had pain and conflict and compromises and inability to surface conflict around money/funding issues. so i think i place alot of unfair expectations on this book--i want answers. i want to be effective & take care of relationships & survive in capitalism while challenging capitalism. it's amazing how well the collection stands up under & even exceeds the weight of all of those expectations.

an important thing that this collection did for me--especially Ruth Wilson Gilmore's article, was historicizing the growth of non-profits as a really recent and geographically specific emergence. that felt hopeful.

the last section, Part iii, is my favorite--i think because it is the most immediate & talks about both feelings and the future. endless gratitude to Paula X. Rojas, Eric Tang, Adjoa Florencia Jones de Almeida, and Sista II Sista. I wish that every one of these authors would go on & write a book. Especially Adjoa & Paula, cause i got the sense they had alot more to say & i think i could learn alot.

finally, while i don't think that the text of this book actually does this, i have some concerns about the way that the idea of this book and the idea of the NPIC might function in some radical circles. i think there's a constant temptation to play the "whos-the-most-authentic-revolutionary" game. or to use access to a certain set of often-academic critiques of non-profits to shame or distance myself from other people. even as this book calls out the "what's the latest hip thing?" approach of foundation funding, i think we have to be careful of the way that the quest for coolness is also present in each of us, and to make sure that our discussions of these topics are oriented towards mutual growth, not indoctrination, exclusion, or one-upsmanship. so, i guess i would say, especially when i'm really excited about the things i'm learning, it's important to me to remember that movement-building is a conversation. (less)

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12/03/07

Rukshana rated it:

Read in April, 2008

recommends it for: activists, organizers, academics, non profit workers, social service providers

I've read almost all of the entries in this anthology so I am declaring it read! I would like to revisit this book again to finish the unread pieces.

This book is excellent. A definite must read for anyone who works in or supports the nonprofit industrial complex, and especially those who see nonprofits as a solution to the destruction caused by global capitalism (a viewpoint that the book dismantles!).

The book includes a real diversity of voices on this topic and examin...more

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3 comments

08/04/07

Alex rated it:

bookshelves: capitalism, movement, patriarchy, racism, tools-for-change

Read in March, 2008

This is a pretty wonderful collection of essays, put together by INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, covering the rise of the Non-Profit Industrial Complex and it's vampiric and co-opting effects on radical movements for social change. Some of the essays are more compelling than others, but I particularly found the historical background of the NPIC undercutting and distorting radical movements of the last 25 years revelatory. Plus the case-studies of groups that went for the 501(c)3 tax st...more

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12/24/07

Erok rated it:

Read in May, 2008

Conceptually i was really into this book. after the first couple of essays, it really started to repeat itself, which given the nature of some essay type books, i had trouble getting the motivation to pick it up and move on. i really gained from the personal stories of struggles that lead people to understand how the non-profit industrial complex works, and how their organizations either succeeded or failed based on how they reacted. Although i agree wholeheartedly with the thesis of this boo...more

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09/09/07

Mel rated it:

Read in November, 2007

recommends it for: liberal do-gooders, nonprofit professionals, academics

These essays collectively blew my mind and provided a whole new lens through which to view the nonprofit sector (and the foundations who feed it), particularly those organizations working for social justice. Some essays were insightful and filled with factual evidence, understanding, compassion, and wonderful anecdotes. Other essays were heavy-handed, one-sided (and thus simplistic), seemingly inaccessible to people without an academic understanding of systems (you know, like the constant droppi...more

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11/21/07

Julie rated it:

My review from thinkgirl.net:

This radical and visionary anthology explores the proliferation of the nonprofit organization model in the United States, and its implications for social justice movements. The writers rightfully emphasize that this model, in which organizations are accountable to generally wealthy, white persons’ foundations, monitors, stifles, and professionalizes activism at the expense of movements. The book argues that movements must remain accountable to low-incom...more

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02/27/08

Eric rated it:

Read in June, 2008

recommended to Eric by: its a long story
recommends it for: every body

Just started this baby after crossed paths with a professor at UIC who recommended it. My copy just arrived in the mail two weeks ago. Its about how liberal Goo Goos don't fund non profits organizations and programs that might actually empower people to radically change the system. I was talking about this and she asked if I had heard of this book. The rest is history. So far after the first chapter,
I'm blown away!

UPDATE UPON FINSHING
O.K. I finished this yesterd...more

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03/04/08

Kristie rated it:

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in April, 2008

recommended to Kristie by: Heather
recommends it for: nonprofit "professionals," anyone interested in building a revolutionary social movement

This book offers an incredible critique of the formation of the nonprofit sector, its reliance on foundation funding, and "professional" activists... all from the perspective of people engaged in radical social action. The central question is whether the nonprofit model (with its ties to capitalism and reliance upon the money of wealthy, White families) can truly produce revolution.

This book shook up the way I see my own role in social change and prompted ideas for how to c...more

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04/09/07

ayden rated it:

Read in April, 2007

I'm finding this so refreshing, read it at the perfect time. Really clarified for me how the non-profit structure misdirects social movements.

However, it's totally US-centered and some of the essays in the first half feel really repetitive. Also, I'd like more on what grassroots fundraising can actually look like- I'm sorry, but house parties don't cut it. Because while folks like me shouldn't be paid to organize, sometimes we do need to pay people for their labor so that they can ...more

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05/03/09

Breeze rated it:

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in understanding an "alternative" perspective to non-profits. It is engaging and really makes you critically think about everything you have ever been "taught" about the "purpose" of non-profit organizations.

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07/04/08

Graham rated it:

back in the day activists didn't get paid. Now they do. In fact, if you think about it, people actually go to college to become paid activists. I even remember students in political science classes I took in college talking about how they wanted to get jobs with non-profits. But how do non-profits work to support the system? And how can you destroy capitalism when you spend all of your fucking time writing grants to get money from that very system you hate so much? Well, you can't. Sure, ...more

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