Journal of Social Equity and Public Administration

Uncharitable Film Review

Susan Appe

University at Albany, SUNY

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1571-6322

Bruna De Morais Holanda

Getulio Vargas Foundation, EAESP FGV; José Luiz Egydio Setúbal Foundation, FJLES

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3746-0740

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/jsepa.v3i1.6094

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Abstract

"Uncharitable" is a 2023 documentary directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal, based on Dan Pallotta's 2008 book of the same name, and incorporating Pallotta's Ted Talk delivered in March 2013. Dan Pallotta is a well-known figure in the nonprofit world and the movie itself will be familiar to those who have followed his work. The documentary emphasizes the need to reconsider the rules of the game that shape philanthropy and the nonprofit sector. We provide a review of the film given the important role the nonprofit sector plays in influencing and contributing to public administration and policy; and in the provision of public goods and services.

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Author Biographies

Susan Appe, University at Albany, SUNY

Susan Appe is Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy at Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy at the University at Albany, SUNY, USA. Her research focuses on government–nonprofit relations and the relationship between civil society, foreign aid, and development. She is currently working on research projects related to collective remittances and philanthropy as well as the roles of public administration and nonprofit organizations in mass atrocity prevention. Dr. Appe is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of VOLUNTAS.

Bruna De Morais Holanda, Getulio Vargas Foundation, EAESP FGV; José Luiz Egydio Setúbal Foundation, FJLES

Bruna de Morais Holanda is a Ph.D. candidate in Public Administration and Government at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, EAESP FGV, and a Fulbright visiting researcher at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy at the University at Albany, SUNY. Her main research interests are philanthropy, and the relations between civil society and the state. She is currently working on research projects related to the institutionalization process of philanthropy and civil society in Brazil, and to collective impact. She is also a researcher at the Philanthropy Research Department of the José Luiz Egydio Setúbal Foundation, FJLES.

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