Unequal Partners

This book offers a nuanced analysis of a US-led foundation initiative of uncommon ambition, featuring seven foundations with a shared commitment to strengthen capacity in higher education in Sub-Saharan African universities. The book examines the conditions under which philanthropy can be effective, the impasses that foundations often face, and the novel context in which philanthropy operates today. This study therefore assesses the shifting grounds on which higher education globally is positioned and the role of global philanthropy within these changing contexts. This is especially important in a moment where higher education is once again recognized as a driver of development and income growth, where knowledge economies requiring additional levels of education are displacing economies predicated on manufacturing, and in a context where higher education itself appears increasingly precarious and under dramatic pressures to adapt to new conditions.    

• Foundation
• Africa
• Higher Education
• Partnership for Higher Education in Africa
• Carnegie Corporation of New York
• Rockefeller
• Hewlett
• Capacity Building
• Academic Network
• development
• education
• higher education

“This book provides the reader with a window to peek into the world of foundations, a world that is often closed and not understood by the public. The author uses both qualitative data and quantitative data to simplify a complex environment of donor inflexibility and recipient resistance despite addiction to donor funding. A must read for those interested in working with development agencies and for those depending on donor funding for development.” (Teboho Moja, Professor and Program Director, Higher Education Program, New York University, USA)

“This book sheds light on the underlying organizational dynamics behind the challenges and successes of the collaborative efforts of major US foundations on the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa.  Jaumont highlights the role of collaboration in generating legitimacy and the ability of grantees to redefine the foundations’ original conceptions for the project and institutionalize programmatic efforts in local and national settings.  An important resource for those interested in understanding or improving educational philanthropy.” (Richard Arum, Professor of Sociology and Dean, School of Education, University of California Irvine, USA)

“This book is vitally important at a moment when higher education is internationalizing and global partnerships proliferate. Jaumont asks that academics, funders, and practitioners think about that which they do by casting bright light on the hard won opportunities of a crucial partnership in African higher education and the challenges that remain.” (Thomas Asher, Program Director, Social Science Research Council)

• New York, NY, USA

  Fabrice Jaumont

Fabrice Jaumont serves as Education Attaché for the Embassy of France to the United States. He is also Program Officer for the FACE Foundation, an operating foundation, chartered by the State of New York and dedicated to nurturing French-American cultural exchange through innovative international projects in the arts and education. He holds a PhD  in International Development Education from the Steinhardt School of Education, Culture, and Human Development at  New York University, USA.