The International Journal
of Not-for-Profit Law

Volume 10, Issue 2, April 2008

This issue of the International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law features a special section on Ethics and Civil Society. David Shulman, a professor of anthropology and sociology at Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, examines deception in the nonprofit workplace, based on research conducted for his book From Hire to Liar (2007). Michael Bisesi, a professor who directs the Center for Nonprofit and Social Enterprise Management at Seattle University, concentrates on ethical lapses of nonprofit boards, especially lapses resulting from board members’ failure to fulfill their “duty of curiosity.”

In our lead article, Michael Edwards dissects “philanthrocapitalism,” the widespread belief that foundations and not-for-profit organizations should adopt business thinking and marketing methods. One of the leading scholars of civil society, Edwards is the author of the newly published Just Another Emperor? The Myths and Realities of Philanthrocapitalism and many other books and articles.

“Defending Civil Society,” a report by the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law and the World Movement for Democracy, surveys legal constraints confronting civil society around the world.  It then addresses governmental justifications for these legal barriers and articulates principles, grounded in international law, to protect civil society.

In addition, Ibrahim Saleh, an assistant professor of journalism and mass communication and director of the Connect Project “Popular Diplomacy” at The American University in Cairo, analyzes violence in Arab civil society and some of the factors that fuel it. Finally, Reginald Akujobi Onuoha, a lecturer in law at the University of Lagos, looks at the discriminatory rules of inheritance in Nigeria and the role of nongovernmental organizations in fighting for change.

As always, we gratefully acknowledge our authors for their incisive and timely articles.

Stephen Bates
Editor
International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law
sbates@icnl.org