Continuity, Rupture or Recycling? An Analysis of the Political Agenda of the World Bank after the Washington Consensus

Abstract

This article analyzes the evolution of the political agenda of the World Bank between the years 1989 and 2014, based on documents produced by institution itself, considered from its unique positions as a lender, formulator and articulator of policies and also as a champion of ideas and prescriptions as to what measured should be taken for capitalist development in its Anglo-Saxon definition. It is argued that this agenda was recycled, expanded and diversified to the extent that, in addition to liberalization, privatization and macroeconomic adjustment, it also became the driving force of the broad reconstruction of the economy, the relationship between society and nature, and even the self,from the liberal perspective in client countries. The importance of the incorporation of neo-institutionalism in this expansion and recycling of the agenda is highlighted. The article also points out how this process occurred in tandem with continuous enlargement of the World Bank's mandate.