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PREMIÈRE PARTIE – Action philanthropique et développement au Proche-Orient : acteurs, pratiques et expertises (xxe-xxie siècles)

Rethinking the Place of Philanthropy in the Making of Development in the Middle East (20th-21st Centuries) Introduction

Annalaura Turiano et Malak Labib
p. 23-36
Cet article est une traduction de :
Repenser la place de la philanthropie dans la fabrique du développement au Proche-Orient (xx-xxie siècles). Introduction [fr]

Texte intégral

1For the past two decades, foundations, associations, NGOs and trusts have proliferated, with the aim of having a lasting impact on the development of Middle Eastern societies. Claiming to follow “strategic” approaches, these actors have often operated in partnership with state institutions (Hartnell, 2018). While several analyses have attributed these dynamics to recent transformations in public action – characterised by a gradual withdrawal of the state in a neoliberal context (Ben Nefissa and Hanafi, 2002; Abu-Sada and Challand, 2012; Ruiz de Elvira, 2019) – how might these developments be understood within longer historical dynamics?

  • 1  For a long-term analysis of welfare policies, see, for example, on the case of Egypt, Jād (2023), (...)

2This special issue examines the links between philanthropic action and development policies and practices in the Middle East during the 20th and 21st centuries. Moving beyond a state-centred history of development, it aims to examine the role of various local and international actors in shaping development practices and knowledge. By challenging the view that philanthropy is merely a precursor to the rise of welfare developmental states, while also questioning the narrative that presents the proliferation of private foundations as a consequence of the state’s gradual withdrawal since the 1970s1 –  this issue invites us to consider the entanglements and permeability between public and private action in the Middle East.

3The contributions focus on territories in the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula that – to varying degrees – remained under Ottoman rule until the early decades of the 20th century. The polities examined here – namely Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria – gradually gained autonomy from the Ottoman imperial framework while remaining subject to various forms of colonial control (British occupation followed by protectorate status in Egypt, League of Nations mandates in the Levant). Colonial legacies, alongside other factors – including the diversity of political regimes and the different temporalities of state-building – make the region a relevant case study for examining the interplay between private philanthropy and public development policies. Furthermore, the religious diversity of these territories invites us to reflect on how faith-based actors have competitively engaged in the field of development while interacting with state institutions (Faure et al., 2022).

  • 2  Some scholars equate philanthropy with charity (Chitwood and Moeller, 2020) while others adopt a b (...)

4We seek to foster a dialogue between two expanding fields of research: studies on philanthropy and the practices of “doing good”, on the one hand, and historical and contemporary analyses of development, on the other. While the historiography of philanthropy and its contemporary dynamics has long centred on European and North American contexts (Duprat, 1993; Topalov, 2019; Adam, 2015; David and Tournès, 2014; Lambelet, 2017; Duvoux, 2017; Zunz, 2012), since the early 2000s it has expanded to include Ottoman and post-Ottoman societies (Singer, 2014; Ener, 2003; Fallas, 2023; Özbek, 2005; Mestyan, 2019). Some of these recent contributions have embraced a broad conceptualisation of philanthropy, while others have sought to distinguish it from other benevolent practices.2 The focus has been on the emergence and evolution of civil society, the religious dimensions of philanthropic giving and the related development of “neoliberal piety” (Haenni, 2005; Atia, 2013; Mittermaier, 2019). This issue offers an underexplored perspective, by providing a long-term analysis of the intersections between philanthropic actors and public development policies. It aims to investigate how philanthropic actors and institutions have shaped and influenced development initiatives, while also examining the complex interrelations among capital, finance, philanthropy and public policy in the Middle East.

5We start by observing that there is no direct equivalent to the term philanthropy in the Arabic language. Instead, one encounters a polysemy of terms associated with practices of “doing good”. These terms draw from the semantic field of ḥasan – denoting what is good and virtuous – and its derivative iḥsān – referring to personal acts of charity, beneficence and altruism – as well as khayr, which conveys both material and moral good, and insān, a term often used to describe actions with humanitarian or philanthropic aims (Singer, 2014; Ruiz de Elvira and Saeidnia, 2021; Catusse, 2021). We posit that, as an etic category, the term philanthropy provides a useful lens for analysing a diverse range of actors (local, international, faith-based or secular) and private structures (missionary societies, associations, foundations, trusts) that align themselves with the values of social reformism and profess a commitment to improving the living conditions of the most vulnerable (Duvoux, 2018). Actors in this field distinguish themselves from so-called traditional charity by promoting a “scientific approach” (Lambelet, 2014, p. 60) – or one oriented toward the “public interest” (Ibrahim and Sherif, 2008, p. 232).

6Conceived in this way, philanthropy remains closely linked to what various actors have historically grouped under the term “development”. According to the definition proposed by Joseph Hodge and Gerald Hödl, this notion has historically referred to forms of intervention in collective affairs, conceived according to “a general (if not universal) norm of improvement”. It has oscillated between two distinct tendencies: on the one hand, raising production and productivity; on the other, improving living standards for populations deemed “underdeveloped” (Hodge and Hödl, 2014, p. 3). While a number of authors have analysed development as a knowledge-power construct, produced by Cold War Western elites, and targeting the “Third World” as an object of intervention (Escobar, 1995; Rist, 1997), the approach adopted here draws on more recent work emphasising the diversity of actors involved in development initiatives, as well as the competing visions of progress and social improvement they have promoted (Cooper, 2010; Hodge, 2016; Unger et al., 2022).

7This approach has gone hand in hand with a broadening of the chronological framework, allowing for an examination of the colonial origins of development practices and discourses (Bonneuil, 2000; van Beusekom, 2002; Moon, 2007; Tilley, 2011). Most of this scholarship has focused on South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The Middle East has received less attention, although significant studies have recently been published, both by historians and political scientists (Abu-Sada and Challand, 2012; Bono and Hibou, 2017; Citino, 2017; Jackson, 2013; Moon and Norris, 2013; Seikaly, 2015; Trentin, 2010).

8This special issue opens up new avenues for rethinking the construction of public action by highlighting the overlap between spheres and areas of intervention that have long been treated as separate or even opposed. It invites us to consider the making of development policies and practices through the lens of circulation (of individuals, expertise, financial flows) and networks, while also foregrounding the power dynamics that underpin them. At the same time, it shifts attention toward non-governmental actors – such as associations, missionaries, or entrepreneurs – who have so far received little consideration in the historiography of development.

9The contributions to this issue centre on several key questions: How have private actors initiated various forms of social intervention inspired by philanthropic ideas of progress and prevention (Fallas, 2023; Singer, 2014; Ibrahim and Sherif, 2008)? In what ways have they incorporated developmentalist perspectives into their discourses and practices? How does philanthropy relate to, and distinguish itself from, other practices of “doing good”? To what extent have philanthropic actors been driven by a pursuit of efficiency and rationalisation and how have their actions drawn on managerial models from the corporate world? Bringing together contributions from history, political science and sociology, this issue also examines the interconnections between the financial sector, philanthropic initiatives and public development policies in the contemporary Middle East.

Philanthropic Actors, Expertise and the Making of Development

  • 3  On discourses on development in Mandatory Palestine, see in particular LeVine, 1995; Norris, 2013; (...)

10The first objective is to examine how philanthropy has reshaped public action over the long term. The analysis focuses on the production and circulation of knowledge – among political elites, colonial actors, experts and philanthropic organisations – and on the power relations that underpin interactions between actors. Without overlooking the modernisation strategies adopted within the Ottoman empire (Maksudyan, 2014; Özbek, 2005; Öztürk 2021) or the forms of intervention defining the 19th-century “civilizing mission” (Matasci and Desgrandchamps, 2020), we opted to start with the interwar period. This allowed us to analyse the contribution of philanthropic actors to the germination of development ideas (Schayegh, 2015) and the emergence of a “scientific philanthropy” aimed at identifying the root causes of social problems in order to develop large-scale and sustainable solutions (David and Tournès, 2014, p. 8). In the interwar Levant, the League of Nations mandates provided a framework for the production of expert knowledge on various aspects of development, the drafting of new international standards and the creation of innovative techniques for population management (Méouchy and Sluglett, 2004; Jackson and O’Malley, 2018; Bourmaud et al., 2020).3

11This expertise was shaped at the intersection of Christian missionary institutions, Western philanthropic foundations and local elites (Schayegh, 2015; Jackson, 2013; Bourmaud, 2020). The creation, in 1928, of the social science research section at the American University of Beirut – one of the main institutions founded by Protestant missionaries – is a telling example. Generously funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, this section was intended to train Arab students in applied sociology methods to prepare them to become local leaders capable of meeting the challenges of development. This “university-foundation-missionary-development-complex” (Schayegh, 2015, p. 649) is central to Sopanit Angsusingha’s article in this issue. The author examines the educational projects carried out by the United Missions in Mesopotamia in Mandate Iraq (1920–1950) and explores the networks connecting American philanthropists and donors, Protestant missionaries and parents of pupils from the Iraqi elite. By studying missionary strategies for fundraising and resource allocation, she shows how these missions helped shape wider discourses and practices of socio-economic development that emerged in the interwar Middle East.

12This article also invites reflection on the role of transnational philanthropic actors in the development policies of Middle Eastern states/public authorities. Alongside transnational philanthropic foundations, networks originating from the Arab and Jewish diasporas were also influential. The construction of a “Jewish national home” in Mandatory Palestine, followed by the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, provides a clear example of the influence of Jewish diasporic philanthropic networks – especially American Jewish philanthropy – on the dynamics of state development (Zunz, 2012; Zinsmeister and Torres, 2016). Between 1952 and 1984, the State of Israel received approximately 22.5 billion dollars in donations, which played a major role in financing economic, cultural and institutional development processes, while also provoking ambivalent reactions from Zionist institutions (Kleiman, 1996).

13Beyond these dynamics – involving missionary actors, local elites and foreign or diasporic philanthropic organisations – it is also important to examine the links between private and public actors in the emergence of development as a paradigm. National philanthropic associations provide a valuable vantage point for analysing these connections (Pollard, 2014; Ener, 2003; Turiano, 2021). Particularly numerous in interwar Egypt, they contributed to the development of a body of knowledge on social reform that was intended to be “scientific” and distinct from the dominant charitable approach of the time (Uways, 2013, p. 225; Dūs, 2015). This expertise was mobilised by government bodies and ministerial departments, some of which had only recently been established. Founded in 1937, the Egyptian Association for Social Studies exemplifies the “philanthropic paradigm of social reform” (Roussillon, 1994, p. 198). Its members formed the first body of “social work” experts, many of whom later became senior officials at the Ministry of Social Affairs, established in 1939. The career of Ahmed Hussein, an influential member of the association, illustrates the circulation and overlap between philanthropic spheres and state institutions. An inspector in the Cooperative Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, he became head of the Fallāh Department in 1939 and was later appointed Minister of Social Affairs (Johnson, 2004). Far from being an isolated case, this trajectory highlights the social homogeneity of philanthropic and government milieus (Gaboriaux, 2017).

14In the mid-20th century, as in much of what was then termed the “Third World”, the region was marked by the rise of developmental states alongside the acceleration of decolonisation. Yet the gradual hegemony claimed by state apparatuses in the fields of economic development and welfare (Ferrand and Mayens, 2024) did not entail the withdrawal of philanthropic actors so much as a redefinition of their roles. This was particularly true for large American and international philanthropic organisations, whose evolution in the 1950s and 1960s must be understood in light of Cold War dynamics. These organisations partly viewed their mission as promoting the economic development of “Third World” countries to shield them from Soviet influence. For example, in Egypt – a pioneer of development policies in the region – the Ford Foundation supported the industrialisation plans promoted by the Free Officers’ regime by setting up training programmes for managers in the emerging public sector (Labib, 2022).

15While the developmental state model remained dominant across much of the region throughout the 1950s and 1960s (Schayegh, 2013), it is important to consider the diversity of national political configurations and public-private relations. The Lebanese case – analysed by Philippe Bourmaud in this issue – is significant in this respect, not least because of the central role played by private and confessional actors in implementing economic and social policies. The Institut de recherche et de formation en vue du développement (IRFED) is a case in point. Headed by the French Dominican Louis-Joseph Lebret, founder of the association Economie et humanisme, the Institute was commissioned by President Fouad Chéhab in 1959 to assess Lebanon’s economic and social situation and draft a development plan (Verdeil, 2012).

  • 4  This term refers to the development policy pursued in Lebanon between 1958 and 1960 by President F (...)

16At the same time, the objectives pursued by public and private actors did not necessarily align, revealing conflicts and power struggles surrounding development visions and plans. Angsusingha’s article illustrates how missionaries, the Iraqi government, the British authorities and students’ families attributed different purposes to the development of educational infrastructure in Mandate Iraq. Similarly, while resonating with certain ideas of Lebanese Chehabism,4 the model of “harmonized development” designed by the Jesuits in the 1960s–1970s – analysed here by P. Bourmaud – had little in common with the development model advanced by “Arab socialist” regimes, foremost among them Nasserite Egypt.

Transformations in Capitalism, Philanthropy and State Business

17The special issue also examines the evolving role of philanthropic institutions in the neoliberal context (Abu-Sada and Challand, 2012; Catusse et al., 2012), marked by a reconfiguration of public-private interactions and processes of “state privatization” (Hibou, 1999, p. 7). How has the delegation of state development policies to philanthropic organisations reshaped public policies and authoritarian regimes in the region? Laura Ruiz de Elvira’s article in this issue explores these reconfigurations in Bashar al-Assad’s Syria through a study of the Syria Trust for Development, founded in the 2000s by Asma al-Assad, the wife of the deposed president. She shows how this type of association, created “from above”, became a “policy laboratory”, intervening directly in public institutions – in the education or health sectors, for example – and proposing reforms tested through pilot projects. A similar form of “contributive philanthropy” to the public sector (Horvath and Powell, 2016, p. 3) can be found in the Saudi case analysed by Nora Derbal. Her article shows that, following the National Strategy for Poverty Eradication launched by Prince Abdullah on his accession to the throne in 2005, the Saudi government entered into close collaboration with philanthropic associations such as the Mājid association (founded in 1998), to address development challenges.

18If philanthropy has, from the outset, been “a capitalist creation” (Zunz, 2012), the transformations brought about by neoliberalism invite us to reflect on recent shifts within the philanthropic sphere, particularly the changing relationships between private capital and state policies. Globally, philanthropy has evolved since the 1980s – and even more so since the 2000s – toward what some refer to as “philanthrocapitalism”. Considering giving as a social investment, philanthropic capitalism claims to increase the effectiveness of philanthropy “by applying the market logic of the corporate sector to the charitable sector” (McGoey et al., 2018, p. 29). How does this capitalist ethic of giving intersect with new forms of knowledge and new development policies in the Middle Eastern context, where authoritarian regimes are predominant?

19Since the 1990s, neoliberal policies and economic growth in the region have benefited small circles connected to those in power, thereby deepening inequalities. In Egypt, in 2004, a “government of businessmen” – embodying the close ties between the ruling National Party and major investors – accelerated economic liberalisation. Similarly, in Syria, the proliferation of private banks has facilitated the rise of a new economic elite whose prosperity was closely tied to the regime of Bashar al-Assad (Joya, 2011). Gulf cities, meanwhile, established themselves as major financial and commercial hubs for the Middle East and Asia, while also witnessing the rise of a young entrepreneurial class (Ibrahim and Abou Shnief, 2016). These economic transformations not only contributed to the outbreak of the 2011 revolutions but also led to significant changes within the philanthropic sector.

  • 5  As modern states emerged, some governments took control of waqf assets or subjected them to strict (...)
  • 6  In the early 2000s, these institutional structures operated under more flexible legal frameworks t (...)

20Throughout the region, the 2000s were marked by the emergence of new philanthropic institutions and organisations, as well as the revitalisation of older structures (Ibrahim, in this issue). Kuwait played a pioneering role in reviving the waqf system after a long period during which such endowments were no longer created.5 A similar trend can be observed in other national contexts, such as Lebanon (Ibrahim and Sherif, 2008; Moumtaz, 2021). In Egypt, while the founding of waqf-s has remained marginal, there has been a proliferation of foundations (mu’assasāt, Atia, 2008, p. 40) undertaking a wide range of social and development projects.6 Regardless of their legal status or regulatory frameworks, these philanthropic organisations have adopted new discursive registers and forms of intervention, increasingly inspired by the logic of the financial sector. In doing so, they have contributed to the emergence of a new “governmental rationality” (Lambelet, 2017, p. 19). While the use of expert knowledge is a distinguishing feature of philanthropic action compared to other practices of “doing good”, this claim to scientificity takes on a particular inflection in the neoliberal context, as Marie Vannetzel’s contribution to this issue demonstrates. Focusing on two major philanthropic associations active in food redistribution in contemporary Egypt (the Miṣr Al-Khayr Foundation and the Egyptian Food Bank), she shows how their activities follow a logic of efficiency and measurability, modelled on business practices, and how these organisations are part of a network of relationships involving state institutions, security bodies and financial actors.

21The emphasis on “strategic investing and measurable results” (McGoey, 2012, p. 189) is also central to the modus operandi of the Saudi association Mājid. As N. Derbal notes, the focus on measurability and technicality allows it to promote itself as a “professional” organisation, managed according to managerial/entrepreneurial logics, in contrast with more “traditional” charitable organisations. In Syria, as studied by Ruiz de Elvira, the Trust promotes a “social market economy model”, based on a neoliberal vision in which “the citizen becomes active and responsible”, and primarily targets middle-class publics. Although this institution does not strictly define itself as philanthropic, these features align it with international philanthropic organisations that claim to implement “approaches that involve and empower target populations” and promote an ideology labelled as “sustainable” (Duvoux, 2018, p. 43). Furthermore, the training and profiles of the staff recruited by the organisations studied here – or with whom they collaborate – reflect deep interconnections between philanthropy, the business world and expert networks.

22It is to be noted that this claim to scientificity does not exclude the mobilisation of religious references. On the contrary, the connection between economic rationality, managerial logic and religiosity (Haenni, 2005; Atia, 2013) is a recurring feature of many philanthropic organisations. The religious dimension remains central, whether in the titles of certain programmes or the rituals in which philanthropic initiatives are embedded, as illustrated by the food donations provided by the Egyptian Food Bank during Ramadan, in the case studied by M. Vannetzel. In the Saudi context analysed by N. Derbal, the use of Islamic rhetoric confers legitimacy and moral endorsement to development practices.

23Beyond the specific forms taken by “philanthrocapitalism” in the Middle East and its various areas of intervention – from food aid and education to the promotion of entrepreneurship – this special issue explores two central dynamics. On the one hand, it highlights how philanthropic projects – even those that explicitly target poverty – contribute to reproducing social hierarchies and inequalities. On the other hand, it examines the close ties between philanthropy, the business world and the regimes in place. The aim is to understand how philanthropic initiatives sustain the “conservative revolution” underway in the region and how philanthropy is linked to the reconfigurations of authoritarianism. Ultimately, by focusing on economic logics, actor networks and the production of knowledge, the different contributions investigate the historical and contemporary dynamics that have shaped the politics of “common good” between state institutions, associations and international organisations.

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Notes

1  For a long-term analysis of welfare policies, see, for example, on the case of Egypt, Jād (2023), El Shakry (2007) and Rommel and Šabasevičiūtė (2024).

2  Some scholars equate philanthropy with charity (Chitwood and Moeller, 2020) while others adopt a broader definition, describing it as “all voluntary giving by individuals – large or small – to groups or individuals, public or private, in cash or in kind” (Singer, 2018, p. 4). Still others emphasise the distinctions between philanthropy and other “practices of doing good”, highlighting its specific values, such as a “strategic approach” and the pursuit of “sustainable social impact” (Ibrahim and Sherif, 2008, p. 10).

3  On discourses on development in Mandatory Palestine, see in particular LeVine, 1995; Norris, 2013; Seikaly 2015.

4  This term refers to the development policy pursued in Lebanon between 1958 and 1960 by President Fouad Chéhab, then continued by his successor Charles Hélou. This policy was characterised by social reformism which, without calling into question political and economic liberalism, asserted the central role of the state in the development process. See, among others, Corm (1964).

5  As modern states emerged, some governments took control of waqf assets or subjected them to strict regulation. According to Nada Moumtaz, the “revival” of waqf-s in Kuwait and other Middle Eastern countries can be dated to the early 1990s (Moumtaz, 2021, p. 59).

6  In the early 2000s, these institutional structures operated under more flexible legal frameworks than those applied to associations or NGOs. In the Lebanese context, adopting waqf status allowed philanthropic organisations to safeguard their assets from political interference and avoid the risk of dissolution that NGOs often faced (Moumtaz, 2021). Similarly, in Egypt during the same period, it was easier to register an organisation as a foundation rather than as a non-profit association, as the law required only a small number of board members and did not impose conditions related to membership or annual meetings (Ibrahim and Schnief, 2016, p. 52-53).

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Annalaura Turiano et Malak Labib, « Rethinking the Place of Philanthropy in the Making of Development in the Middle East (20th-21st Centuries) Introduction »Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée, 158 (2/2025) | 2025, 23-36.

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Annalaura Turiano et Malak Labib, « Rethinking the Place of Philanthropy in the Making of Development in the Middle East (20th-21st Centuries) Introduction »Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée [En ligne], 158 (2/2025) | 2025, mis en ligne le 01 décembre 2025, consulté le 23 janvier 2026. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/remmm/23953 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/15c8y

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Annalaura Turiano

Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, IREMAM, Aix-en-Provence, France
annalauraturiano[at]gmail.com

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Malak Labib

Centre Marc Bloch / Forum Transregionale Studien, Berlin
malak.labib[at]cmb.hu-berlin.de

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