Publications

Anne Monier’s book “Our Dear”American Friends" has been released on the 11^th of Septembre at Presses Universitaires de France, Paris.

Quatrième de couverture :

At a time of economic crisis, budget cuts and public service transformations, many French cultural institutions are encouraged to raise funds, in France but also abroad, and particularly in the United States. To do this, they operate through original organizations, the “American Friends” groups (American Friends of the Louvre, American Friends of the Paris Opera, American Friends of Versailles, etc.), which are between France and the United States and whose mission is to raise funds for the institution to which they are attached. This book highlights the essential role of these groups, through the analysis of the structures, networks and actors that enable transnational fundraising, but also the examination of speeches and representations that attract American donors. These organizations are thus undertaking a work of “diplomatic intermediation” between France and the United States, in line with the new private forms of diplomacy. These transnational fundraising activities also contribute to transforming the cultural institutions themselves (their practices, their role, etc.), and the French cultural world more broadly, offering new public / private reconfigurations. Focusing on a three-year qualitative survey conducted in France and the United States and studying the point of view of the actors of transnational philanthropy (their speeches, practices and representations), this book offers an insight into the little-known world of transnational elite philanthropy and reveals the “backstage” behind the “glamorous” image of philanthropy.