Motivation of philanthropists in peacebuilding: promoting peace as personal satisfaction?

This paper was developed out of an interest to learn more about the role, and more particularly about the motivations, of philanthropists who engage in peace research and peacebuilding practice. How can we explain this engagement in peacebuilding and conflict transformation despite the fact that (a) this field is highly contested in terms of substance, instruments and processes, and (b) it may take far more than one generation's lifespan for it to show positive results? Adopting an inductive approach, the article examines basic linkages between philanthropy and peacebuilding, laying the groundwork for preliminary results from a set of explorative semi-structured interviews on the topic. The authors analyse the implications of philanthropic financing for peacebuilding interventions and compare it with other sources of funding.