The World Bank: Development, Poverty, Hegemony, edited by David Moore, Scottsville: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2007; pp. 581, $49.50/R225.00 (pb). ISBN 1869141008.
This collection is undoubtedly a valuable contribution to the ongoing critical analysis of the World Bank's activities during the past 15 years. David Moore presents a thoughtful and accessible edited volume that covers a broad range of topics related to the Bank's neoliberal hegemonic project. Following the Bank's discursive twists and turns throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the various chapters challenge the organisation's attempts to persuade the outside world that a kinder, gentler approach to development has been adopted after the failure of Structural Adjustment.
The book begins by Moore establishing the theoretical framework guiding the volume. His Gramscian understanding of hegemony and counter-hegemony provide the inspiration for compiling the chapters, and Moore claims that the book ‘… is about how the World Bank attempts to perform what Robert Wade (1997) has called the “Gramsci effect”’(p. 27). Thus, central to the analysis are questions such as: how does the World Bank convince others to accept, and at times enthusiastically embrace, its policies and practices? How does the Bank respond to major challenges to its orthodoxy? How does it manufacture moral and intellectual leadership within the development industry? (p. 27). While not all contributors adhere to the Gramscian tradition, there is certainly a strong current throughout the book that aims to deconstruct and challenge the Bank's hegemonic notions of development. The Gramscian conception of hegemony provides a crucial lens through which to view the Bank's discourse and practice, and adds theoretical rigour to the volume.
Moore has re-published several classic texts on the World Bank for this volume (e.g. Robert Wade's 1996 article in New Left Review on the ‘East Asian miracle’), some in their original form, others moderately or substantially revised for this book. These influential pieces are combined with several original chapters for the book addressing more contemporary issues, and written by ‘new entrants taking the field of what could be labelled “World Bank studies” into uncharted territory’ (p. viii). The book covers an impressive range of topics, including the Bank's discourses around social capital, sustainable development, participation/ownership, good governance and post-conflict reconstruction. In addition, Moore ends with a provocative chapter written by Patrick Bond calling for the abolition of the Bank, which is based on various positions and perspectives from radical ‘civil society’ formations. The book's 16 chapters provide an excellent source of information – in one place – for those interested in accessing critical approaches to studying the Bank.
Despite the successful project accomplished by Moore, at least two critical points need to be mentioned regarding the volume. First, and most importantly, the book lacks feminist analysis of the World Bank. In light of the devastating, and disproportionate, consequences of Structural Adjustment for women in the ‘developing’ world, at least one or two chapters written from a feminist perspective would have helped to provide a more complete critique. Feminist critiques of the Bank have constituted some of the most articulate, sophisticated and consistent attempts by scholars and activists to challenge its neoliberal orthodoxy. Moreover, based on the editor's statement that ‘…it is time to gather together the last decade and a half's radical analytical assessments of the world's most visible development institution’ (p. viii), the absence of a feminist critique appears to be a glaring, and potentially debilitating, omission.
Secondly, Moore is highly dismissive in his own chapters of the post-structural theoretical position on several of the issues under question. Although disagreeing on a theoretical and practical level with others is healthy and productive in many ways, Moore does so in a manner that does not truly engage with this perspective. He mentions post-structuralism very briefly, painting a crude caricature of its approach, only to tear down the straw man in due course. If a critique of post-structuralism is to be presented, then it is only appropriate that a more substantial and rigorous engagement with this perspective be elaborated.
Notwithstanding the criticisms raised above, this volume serves as a valuable resource for students, scholars, and activists who are interested in understanding the rhetorical shifts of the Bank during the past 15 years, and potential strategies for struggling against the current hegemony of the Bank.