Multilateral Institutions A Critical Introduction

by Boas, Morten; McNeill, Desmond

• ISBN13: 9780745319216
• ISBN10: 0745319211
• Format: Hardcover
• 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	vii
Acknowledgements	viii
Abbreviations	ix
Multilateral Institutions: A Brief Guide	xi
Introduction: A `Critical Engagement' Approach to Multilateral Institutions	1	(15)
Multilateralism: A Critical Perspective	4	(7)
The Structure of this Book	11	(3)
Concluding Remarks	14	(2)
The Structural Design of Multilateral Institutions	16	(34)
The Bretton Woods Institutions	16	(1)
The World Bank	17	(11)
The International Monetary Fund	28	(7)
The Regional Development Banks	35	(3)
The United Nations Development Programme	38	(3)
The World Trade Organisation	41	(2)
The Roles and Approaches of Multilateral Institutions: The Doctrine of Political Neutrality	43	(4)
The Relationship Between Multilateral Institutions	47	(2)
Concluding Remarks	49	(1)
The Changing Priorities of Multilateral Institutions: From Technical Aid to Good Governance	50	(40)
In the Beginning ... Modernisation Through Technical Assistance	51	(12)
The World Bank: From Structural Adjustment to Good Governance	63	(9)
The Regional Development Banks	72	(8)
The WTO and the IMF: Sustainable Development and Good Governance	80	(8)
Conclusion: Policy Changes in and among Multilateral Institutions	88	(2)
The Politics of Multilateral Institutions -- Unpacking the Black Box	90	(49)
Politics in Multilateral Institutions: A Framework	92	(11)
Governance and Cross-Cutting Issues: The Fine Art of Policy Making in Multilateral Institutions	103	(14)
The Inspection Panel Function and the ADB in Samut Prakarn	117	(8)
Legitimacy and Representation -- A Case for Critical Engagement?	125	(10)
The Politics of Protest	135	(2)
Policy Making in Multilateral Institutions -- The Art of the State?	137	(2)
The Future of Multilateral Institutions	139	(21)
Revolution, Reform or Cosmetic Change?	141	(1)
The Privatisation of Multilateral Institutions	142	(7)
Civil Society and the Future of Multilateral Institutions	149	(2)
Regionalism and Multilateral Institutions	151	(5)
Conclusion: Critical Engagement and the Future of Multilateral Institutions	156	(4)
Notes	160	(8)
Internet Resources	168	(2)
Bibliography	170	(9)
Index	179