ABSTRACT
Philanthrocapitalism, an increasingly dominant strand within philanthropy, emphasises private sector business methods as solutions to social problems. Philanthrocapitalists have become eager promoters of financial inclusion, which is a drive to extend financial products and services, particularly credit, to all individuals worldwide through a wide range of formal financial service providers. As this contribution argues, the promotion of financial inclusion by philanthrocapitalists is problematic not only because its alleged pro-poor impacts generally do not materialise but also because it exacerbates inequality by creating new opportunities for financial service providers and philanthrocapitalists to accumulate capital. We focus our critical analysis on three particular problem areas. First, the classic problem of the philanthropist receiving some – perhaps indirect – benefit from engaging in philanthropy is even greater in philanthrocapitalism, because the actors stand to profit financially from it. Second, the promotion of financial inclusion by philanthrocapitalists represents an undemocratic exercise of power, as they manipulate social policy and shape future markets. Third, financial inclusion and philanthrocapitalism fail to address structural causes underlying inequality and may even serve to legitimise inequality. We conclude that the resulting wealth and power redistributions are highly meaningful and warrant greater attention from scholars studying capital accumulation.
