This project seeks to map the powerful role of philanthropic institutions as instruments of social change. Our focus is on creating a taxonomy of distinct organizational forms through which foundations are structured, analysing the rules and norms that govern their conduct, their historical practices and their relationships with related institutions (i.e. the corporation, the family, the church, and the nation state). The project will focus explicitly on the relatively under-examined role of foundations as instruments of political, economic and social change.