Altruistic Imperialism: The Co-optation of Mutual Aid by the Nonprofit Industrial Complex

Author

Kelly T. Waltz, The Graduate Center, City University of New YorkFollow

Date of Degree

6-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Program

Women's and Gender Studies

Advisor

Red Washburn

Subject Categories

Gender and Sexuality

Keywords

Nonprofit, Imperialism, Mutual Aid, Nonprofit Industrial Complex, Neoliberalism, Feminism

Abstract

This thesis assesses the role of the nonprofit industrial complex (NPIC) in neoliberalism’s material destruction of global community development and its exploitation of human benevolence. An examination of the institutionalization of high-profile social movements such as BLM and #MeToo demonstrates that the nonprofit industrial complex is built upon a misappropriation of feminist and liberation ideologies and practices, an insidious weaponization of our collectivist tendencies, and the systematic subjugation of mutual aid networks originally created and operated independent of systems of capital. The systemic and conceptual limitations of mainstream methods and the criteria by which nonprofit organizations’ effectiveness is evaluated are contrasted with the holistic and qualitative approach taken by mutual aid networks and grassroot social movements. The survival of a nonprofitized social movement relies on inconsistent financing from the state and wealthy donors, resulting in increasingly counter-revolutionary goals and values of the organization. By rejecting such monetization, solution-focused and community-led social movements preserve their authenticity, lending credibility to their demands for comprehensive and anti-capitalist structural changes. The inevitable demise of the nonprofit structure will be due to its fundamental refusal to reflect and meaningfully regroup, while mutual aid has survived by welcoming accountability and transformation. This thesis proposes a call to action for those seeking to "live their values" to assess their politics through an anti-capitalist framework and the principles of mutual aid, to challenge their individual and community’s feminism and praxis, and to acknowledge what has been lost and what remains at stake under neoliberalism.

Recommended Citation

Waltz, Kelly T., "Altruistic Imperialism: The Co-optation of Mutual Aid by the Nonprofit Industrial Complex" (2024). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/5848