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Wealth Equals Wisdom? The Rockefeller and Ford Foundations in India

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  • LEONARD A. GORDON

Abstract

Two giants of American philanthropy, the Rockefeller and Ford foundations, have had a complicated history in South Asia. The sources are considerable, but mainly on the grant-giver side, with little attention to the impact of the grants. The Rockefeller Foundation started its grants to India in 1916 and through 1947 worked mainly in the field of medicine. Later it broadened its interests to include agriculture and humanities. It curtailed most of its India interest in 1973. The Ford Foundation entered India in the 1950s. Douglas Ensminger, its representative, became the most powerful foreign representative of the foundation, calling himself a “change agent†and enjoying unusual access to Prime Minister Nehru. He presided over the expansion of Ford Foundation technical assistance, with over 100 foreigners working for it in India by 1970. Thereafter it decided to cut the number of foreigners working in India and change its mode of operation to one of grant giver. The golden age of the foundations was in the 1950s and 1960s, when they played a most important role; thereafter significant changes occurred.

Suggested Citation

  • Leonard A. Gordon, 1997. "Wealth Equals Wisdom? The Rockefeller and Ford Foundations in India," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 554(1), pages 104-116, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:554:y:1997:i:1:p:104-116
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716297554001007
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