Super-philanthropy, repetition, difference, and decolonial possibilities and postcapitalist futures

Pablo Fuentenebro et al.'s 'Geographies of Super-Philanthropy: Disaggregating the Global Philanthropic Complex' describes the power of contemporary philanthropy. Their piece is highly insightful, and I appreciate their deep engagement with a topic central to how communities might address climate change and other pressing global challenges. While the comparison is wildly inappropriate, James Ferguson's (2015) description of tech sector wealth as a 'great gusher', like an oil field to be tapped for the benefit of humanity, comes to mind. The philanthropic 'gushers' discussed here represent the kind of power that could contribute to the global climate reparations envisioned by Olúfẹ´mi O. Táíwò (2022). To see this potential requires us to engage in both an appreciative and a critical reading of their argument about contemporary philanthrocapitalism, which rests upon both key differences between this form of philanthropy and what's come before, as well as their acknowledgement that it is also a repetition" that there is a resemblance between Bill Gates' charity and Carnegie Mellon's. Within this framework of difference and repetition, I explore the various reimaginations of philanthropy that emerged during the pandemic, when it seemed possible to pause the global order and envision something new.