Philanthropy, World-Making, and Anglo-American Influence: Carnegie Libraries During the Interwar Period and Today

This project explores the political, social, and economic geographies of American philanthropy and world-making during the interwar period. It interrogates the Carnegie Libraries programme to consider philanthropy as a geopolitical practice, one that resonates with today's philanthropic activity. In turn, it provides a prism to examine spaces of Anglo-American world-making away from London and formal international relations.

By employing archival and ethnographic methodologies, the project seeks to illuminate the complex social and political legacies and contributions of philanthropic investment in education.

With only 336 surviving libraries across the British Isles (Prizeman et al., 2022), the significance of this research project is threefold. Empirically, it offers a far-reaching account of the Carnegie Libraries programme in the UK and a novel perspective on the relationship between American philanthropy and world-making during a period of significant political, social, and economic change.

It connects philanthropy to the reordering of communities, situating them in the realms of international citizenship. Theoretically, it offers a new lens to consider the spaces of Anglo-American world-making, far from London and international relations. In as much, it considers the interplay between liberal internationalism and liberal individualism, everyday politics, local and global money, and scale.

Lastly, it proposes a critical way to understand philanthropy as a geopolitical practice. This argument resonates with contemporary philanthropy, highlighting its crucial role within the political landscape. By anchoring the discussion on Carnegie Libraries, current philanthropic initiatives are stamps of geopolitical forces.

Its relevance to contemporary academic debates and its potential to inform future philanthropic initiatives relative to social, economic, and political impact highlights its importance in the evolving discipline of human geography.