Intro
Arguments from academics, NGOs, the United Nations, and ordinary People from around the globe have made claims that little has changed in the World Bank’s approach to concessional lending and debt relief after the fall of the Washington Consensus. As the failures of neoliberalism manifested and the general development discourse began to favor new emerging theories, the World Bank shifted its lending approach from Structural Adjustment Programs to Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs). The PRSPs were meant to be a key tool representing the new and refined post-Washington notion of development with a focus on human rights (Robin Perry). Instead, many argue that SAPs and PRSPs are the same in concept with merely a different name. While this essay does not refute that PRSPs encompass many of the core neoliberal principles that were characteristic of SAPs, it does seek to explore the question, in what ways did the World Bank’s approach to PRSPs encompass mainstream development discourse at the time? Rather than focusing on the lack of change between SAPs and PRSPs, as most scholarly work on the subject has, this essay looks to focus on the changes implemented during the shift. This essay is also not trying to answer the question, how effective or ‘good’ were the PRSPs, but simply what development theories helped to influence its approach.
The shift from Neoliberalism to the Human Development Approach
The World Bank’s transition from SAPs to PRSPs occurred during a shift in the wider development discourse during the 1990’s. Neoliberalism was losing support as new development approaches were on the rise, focusing on social concerns, poverty, inequality, gender, and basic rights. These new approaches were partially owing ...
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...r were always or even majorly successful in their policy outcomes. There is a wide range of evidence showing how PRSPs did not lead to the empowerment of women or do an ideal job of including the general population in the initial drafting of the PRSPs. However, changes in the initial approach to concessional lending did occur within the World Bank as it shifted from SAPs to PRSPs by allowing mainstream development discourse of the 1990’s to help influence its development approach. Neoliberalist strategies did not fall to the wayside, and are still found in many PRSPs though not in the place of such obvious dominance as it once was with the SAPs. Instead, neoliberalism is now one of several development theories and discourses that helps construct the PRSPs, sitting alongside the Rights-Based Approach, Feminist theory, and an overall emphasis on poverty reduction.
The Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) are economic policies imposed on countries that borrow loans from the World Bank (referred to as “the Bank”) and the International Monetary Fund (referred to as “the Fund” or IMF). Originating from the right-wing neo-liberalism ideology of the Bank and the Fund (which are the International Financial Institutions or “IFIs”), the SAPs were created to establish a free market economic system in the borrowing (developing) countries, which lead to privatization within those countries. The Bank and the Fund tell the critics that the SAPs help ensure that the money lent will be spent in accordance with the overall goals of the loan and help in re...
In an article entitled “Resisting and reshaping destructive development: social movements and globalizing networks”, P. Routledge describes neoliberal development, “Contemporary economic development is guided by the economic principles of neoliberalism and popularly termed ‘globalization’. The fundamental principal of this doctrine is ‘economic liberty’ for the powerful, that is that an economy must be free from the social and political ‘impediments,’ ‘fetters’, and ‘restrictions’ placed upon it by states trying to regulate in the name of the public interest. These ‘impediments’ - which include national economic regulations, social programs, and class compromises (i.e. national bargaining agreements between employers and trade unions, assuming these are allowed) - are considered barriers to the free flow of trade and capital, and the freedom of transnational corporations to exploit labor and the environment in their best interests. Hence, the doctrine argues that national economies should be deregulated (e.g. through the privatization of state enterprises) in order to promote the allocation of resources by “the market” which, in practice, means by the most powerful.” (Routledge)
In her article, “Sustainable Social Policy: Fighting Poverty Without Poverty Programs,” Theda Skocpol argues that universal programs that benefit all citizens address poverty more effectively than targeted ones. Skocpol argues from a theoretical basis, implying that the political success of assistance programs is of paramount importance. She posits that such programs are “politically sustainable,” because they almost exclusively target low-income families. The arbitrary measures used to determine who benefits and who doesn’t may lead social unrest. Skocpol provides a basic example; struggling families who fall short of becoming beneficiaries are angered by the fact that they must pay for someone else’s benefits. Consequently, those who are
Hojman, David. 1999. The Political Economy of Development and Democracy in the 1990’s. Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press.
In the ever-changing field of international development, buzzwords play an important role in framing the current agendas that are of interest to the international communities. These buzzwords, which can be globally circulating ideas for change or methods of practice, can be adopted for several reasons. It can be thought that framing the issue in this way may resonate more with potential supporters and more effectively help in the pursuit of the goals. Or it can be a password for potential funding, or a way of bringing together a diverse set of practitioners and beneficiaries and make it easier to build networks and partnerships with other international organizations (Cornwall & Eade
19).This has led to Sub-Saharan Africa becoming dependant on the Global North to purchase their primary produce (Galbraith 2002, p. 25 cited in Gamage 2015, p. 9). This is problematic given that Africa also faces competition from Asia and Latin America in these industries which forces African farmers to further lower their costs which could include lowering wages for their workers. Employing such measures has led to negative rates of economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. For example, in 1975, regional per capital GNP stood at 17.6% of the world average and this had dropped to 10.5% in 1999 (Ferguson 2006, p. 9). Therefore even the core aim of neoliberalism which is achieving economic growth has not been achieved. It has been suggested that there has been economic growth since then but even if Sub-Saharan Africa is growing as a region, lowering wages means that the poorest will not receive any benefit from a better economy.Therefore, if neoliberalism is considered a political tool used to restore the wealth of the bourgeoisie then it inherently cannot be a viable tool
Makwana, R. (2006). Globalization: neoliberalism and economic globalization. Retrieved April 05, 2014, from Share The World’s Resources website: http://www.stwr.org/globalization/neoliberalism-and-economic-globalization.html
The policies dictated by the IMF during the 80s and 90s, which were influential in destroying the economies of many developing countries, offer one example of the technocratic approach going awry. Today the realities of the developing world vary from country to country, but experts continue to be obsessed with setting goals and expecting that governments will reach them, without taking into account the likely impact on the local
Catherine Caufield provided the flamboyant details of the projects that were sponsored by the World Bank to help the poor people but in reality they made rich people richer. The World Bank is only largest moneylender to the third world of poor countries. World Bank has great influence on the third world countries. It not only provides fund to them but also draft the projects sponsored by it.It determines the outlines, objectives, designs and outlook the all proposed projects. The government of those countries is also influenced by World Bank decisions. In other senses we can say that those countries became the puppet in hands of the bank. In order to keep itself at top position, it spends a large sum on promoting its philosophy of development by organising conferences, symposiums and
As the disparities between rich and poor kept increasing despite the initial promise of globalization, the dissatisfaction with the government’s ability to deliver on its promise was vociferously articulated by individuals, tax-payers, civil society organizations, nongovernment organizations, and community-based organizations culminating in that great counter to the World Economic Forum – the World Social Forum. It was argued that if those in power governed by social mandate, then they were answerable for their decisions, action, and inaction to society at large – hence social accountability. Social accountability
The developing countries were deeply split. A group of 10 hardliners, under the leadership of India and Brazil, fiercely opposed a new round, especially the inclusion of services, intellectual proper...
...y agendas in that they attempt to help countries in need and promote economic stability and development. However, their one size fits all policies can sometimes harm the countries they are trying to help, especially for developing countries. Their neoliberal policies often create problems in the soft sectors including education, health, and housing. This problem could be credited to the institutions, especially the IMF, which are largely comprised of macro-economists who specialize in short-term macro-economic stabilization, when developing countries need fundamental reform for the long term (Murtaza 2). These institutions should also take into account the unique circumstances of each individual country they work with in order to create policies that cater to the specific interests of each country and prevent as many negative consequences for the people as possible.
...lopment. In addition, such transformation have depended less on regime type than on the character and capacity of the state, whether democratic or not. In, short it has been the politics and the state rather than the democracy that explains the differences between successful and unsuccessful development records. Hence, it is not necessarily a democratic state, though it could be highly desirable if it could also be that, but a developmental state. This implies that a state should have political and bureaucratic elite with genuine developmental determination and autonomous capacity to define, purse and implement development goals. Hence, it is not simply a managerial question, as the World Bank’s literature asserts, but a political one. Without a development state, democratic or not, no contemporary developing society is likely to achieve developmental breakthrough.
National policymakers, project managers and international aid donors involved in development in poor countries often confront moral questions in their work. Development scholars recognize that social-scientific theories of 'development' and 'underdevelopment' have ethical or as well as empirical and policy components. Development philosophers and other ethicists formulate ethical principles relevant to social change in poor countries, analyze and assess the moral dimensions of development theories and seek to resolve the moral quandaries raised in development policies and practice: In what direction and by what means should a society 'develop'? Who is morally responsible for bene...
Project Proposal on Poverty Reduction "Poverty reduction through pro-active, participatory, income- generating involvement of Rural youth in goat rearing" 1. Name of the project: Income generation through goat rearing. 2. Implementing organisation: Lemon grass 3.