Multilateral Institutions A Critical Introduction

by Boas, Morten; McNeill, Desmond

• ISBN13: 9780745319209
• ISBN10: 0745319203
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-02-20
• Publisher: Pluto Press

Summary

In recent years, a great deal of public attention has been focussed on multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, IMF and WTO. This book offers students, practitioners and activists a critical guide to these and other major institutions - the Regional Development Banks and UNDP - that make up the multilateral development system. It analyses how they operate with respect to financing and lending, the various roles that they play, and related changes in their policy concerns - such as structural adjustment, sustainable development, and governance. The emphasis is on politics within and also between multilateral institutions, analysing the relations both competitive and collaborative between, for example, the World Bank and UNDP. NGOs are also shown to be important actors, and the role they have played in recent years is critically assessed. The book concludes with some emerging trends: the 'privatisation' of the system, regionalisation, and 'the politics of protest'.Boas and McNeill do not simply take the policies of multilateral institutions at face value, but ask how and why these policies came into existence. They seek to promote critical, but informed, engagement both with the member states of multilateral institutions and the institutions themselves.

Author Biography

Morten Bøås and Desmond McNeill are both affiliated to the Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo. They have published internationally on development and international relations.

Table of Contents

List of Tables	p. vii
Acknowledgements	p. viii
Abbreviations	p. ix
Multilateral Institutions: A Brief Guide	p. xi
Introduction: A 'Critical Engagement' Approach to Multilateral Institutions	p. 1
Multilateralism: A Critical Perspective	p. 4
The Structure of this Book	p. 11
Concluding Remarks	p. 14
The Structural Design of Multilateral Institutions	p. 16
The Bretton Woods Institutions	p. 16
The World Bank	p. 17
The International Monetary Fund	p. 28
The Regional Development Banks	p. 35
The United Nations Development Programme	p. 38
The World Trade Organisation	p. 41
The Roles and Approaches of Multilateral Institutions: The Doctrine of Political Neutrality	p. 43
The Relationship Between Multilateral Institutions	p. 47
Concluding Remarks	p. 49
The Changing Priorities of Multilateral Institutions: From Technical Aid to Good Governance	p. 50
In the Beginning ... Modernisation Through Technical Assistance	p. 51
The World Bank: From Structural Adjustment to Good Governance	p. 63
The Regional Development Banks	p. 72
The WTO and the IMF: Sustainable Development and Good Governance	p. 80
Conclusion: Policy Changes in and among Multilateral Institutions	p. 88
The Politics of Multilateral Institutions--Unpacking the Black Box	p. 90
Politics in Multilateral Institutions: A Framework	p. 92
Governance and Cross-Cutting Issues: The Fine Art of Policy Making in Multilateral Institutions	p. 103
The Inspection Panel Function and the ADB in Samut Prakarn	p. 117
Legitimacy and Representation--A Case for Critical Engagement?	p. 125
The Politics of Protest	p. 135
Policy Making in Multilateral Institutions--The Art of the State?	p. 137
The Future of Multilateral Institutions	p. 139
Revolution, Reform or Cosmetic Change?	p. 141
The Privatisation of Multilateral Institutions	p. 142
Civil Society and the Future of Multilateral Institutions	p. 149
Regionalism and Multilateral Institutions	p. 151
Conclusion: Critical Engagement and the Future of Multilateral Institutions	p. 156
Notes	p. 160
Internet Resources	p. 168
Bibliography	p. 170
Index	p. 179
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