Philanthropy at a Crossroads: Toward a Degrowth Praxis for Justice Philanthropy

Abstract Amid growing social inequality and ecological collapse, a critical and pluralistic movement known as justice philanthropy has emerged within the philanthropic sector. This movement seeks to confront systemic injustice and question the role of mainstream philanthropic foundations in perpetuating it. While justice philanthropy has introduced innovative approaches, many of its practices remain tied to a dominant ideology of perpetual economic growth—often termed growthism —which is itself a root cause of the crises it aims to address. In this article, we draw on degrowth scholarship to argue that without a decisive break from growthism, justice philanthropy risks reinforcing the very extractive and unequal systems it seeks to dismantle. We begin by tracing the role of philanthropic foundations in sustaining capitalist growth imperatives. We then examine the points of alignment and tension between degrowth and justice philanthropy, revealing a core contradiction in current philanthropic foundation practices. To address this, we propose a framework for degrowth praxis in philanthropy, outlining three transformative roles that foundations can adopt: capital decumulators , solidarity vehicles , and growth objectors. By reorienting justice philanthropy strategies around degrowth principles, foundations can more effectively contribute to systemic transformation and social justice. This analysis offers both a critique of dominant philanthropic foundation models and a roadmap for more radical, justice-driven alternatives in an era of deepening social and ecological crises.