The World Bank and Non-governmental Organizations: The Limits of Apolitical Development

250 Pages·1995·13.732 MB·English

by  Paul J. Nelson

INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY SERIES
General Editor: Timothy M. Shaw, Professor of Political Science and Inter-
national Development Studies, and Director of the Centre for Foreign Policy
Studies, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada
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ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING IN EAST ASIA AND INDIA: Perspectives
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FORESTS AND LIVELIHOODS: The Social Dynamics of Deforestation in
Developing Countries
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THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF EVALUATION: International Aid Agenicies
and the Effectiveness of Aid
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FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN A CHANGING GLOBAL POLITICAL
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THE GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY OF COMMUNICATION
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THE MOVE TO THE MARKET? Trade and Industry Policy Reform in
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DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION: From Underdevelopment to
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VOTES AND BUDGETS: Comparative Studies in Accountable Governance in
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GOVERNMENT-NGO RELATIONS IN ASIA: Prospects and Challenges for
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DEBATING DEVELOPMENT DISCOURSE: Institutional and Popular
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CUBA IN THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM: Normalization and Integration
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Political Economy of Foreign Policy in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin
America
Sandra Whitworth
FEMINISM AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
The World Bank and
Non-Governmental
Organizations
The Limits of Apolitical Development
Paul J. Nelson
Associate Director for Development Policy
Church World Service and Lutheran World Relief
Washington, DC
First published in Great Britain 1995 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndrnills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG2I 6XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
ISBN 0-333-64577-4
First published in the United States of America 1995 by
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 0-312-12620-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Nelson, Paul J, 1956-
The World Bank and nongovernmental organizations: the limits of
apolitical development / Paul J. Nelson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-312-12620-4
I. World Bank. 2. Non-govemmcnlal organizations. I. Title.
II. Series.
HG3881.5.W57N45 1995
332.1'532—dc20 95-7825
CIP
© Paul J. Nelson 1995
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
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Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
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Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire
Contents
List of Tables and Figures vi
Preface vii
Acknowledgements ix
Acronyms and Abbreviations xi
1 Introduction and Overview I
2 The World Bank Takes Center Stage 13
3 'Accountable to Whom?' And Other Issues for NGOs 36
4 World Bank-NGO Project Cooperation: Less than Meets
the Eye? 67
5 Moving Money: Organizational Aspects of a Development
Model 87
6 The World Bank and Apolitical Development 112
7 Organizational Culture and Participation in Development 142
8 Conclusions 176
Appendix 1 Key to Interviews Cited in Text 198
Appendix 2 Methodological Note 199
Notes 200
Bibliography 202
Index 221
List of Tables and Figures
Tables
2.1 Top Five Voting Powers, IBRD, 1945, 1971 and 1993 14
2.2 World Bank Lending by Sector, 1961-65, 1975-79, and
1989-93 16
4.1 NGO Participation in World Bank-Financed Projects
1973-90, by Type of Involvement 72
4.2 Breakdown of NGO Roles in Project Design, for World
Bank-Financed Projects Reported to Involve NGO Design,
1989-90 and 1991-92 78
4.3 Major Involvement in World Bank-Financed Projects,
Community-Based Organizations Alone and
Community-Based Organizations and Intermediary
NGOs Together 80
4.4 NGO Involvement in Major Roles in World Bank-Financed
Projects, by Involvement of International NGOs, National
NGOs, and Both 82
4.5 Professional and Interest-Based NGOs, and Major Roles in
World Bank-Financed Projects 83
4.6 NGO Involvement in World Bank-Financed Projects, by
Region and Year of Approval, 1973-90 83
4.7 World Bank-Financed Projects with NGO Involvement,
1973-90, by Region and Major and Minor Roles 84
Figures
4.1 World Bank-Financed Projects with NGO Involvement, by
Year of Approval 75
Preface
The fiftieth anniversary year of the Bretton Woods organizations has
been a turbulent one for the World Bank. 1995 has already been marked
by a political shift in the Congress of its largest financial contributor,
a major financial crisis in Mexico, the resignation of the late Lewis
Preston and the nomination and appointment of James D. Wolfensohn
to become its new President in June of 1995.
It is difficult to predict the significance of any of these events and
changes for the Bank. Internal and external reformers, including NGOs,
have pressed for reforms in environmental policy, changes in policy
and practice with respect to structural adjustment and popular partici-
pation, freer access to information and channels for complaints about
Bank-financed projects. Reforming efforts found some support at the
top during Preston's presidency. A new, somewhat less secretive in-
formation disclosure policy was enacted and an independent inspec-
tion panel created to hear complaints. Preston emphasized poverty
reduction and the environment in speeches and policy documents through-
out his tenure.
The incoming President has announced his intention to reshape the
Bank. Wolfensohn's long-time interest in environmental and social
development issues has raised hopes and expectations among many
observers. But he takes over a large and conservative bureaucracy whose
entrenched interests, myths and organizational dynamics have resisted
and reshaped changes promulgated by previous leaders.
How the new President's agenda will take shape, and how it will
intersect and interact with NGO and social movements' agendas and
with the changing politics of multilateral cooperation, remain to be
seen. The research on Bank-NGO relations reported here, together with
a review of policy changes in the 1970s and 1980s, points to some of
the organizational features that have resisted change. These same fea-
tures - including a relatively rigid project cycles, the protective organ-
izational myth of apolitical development, and a hierarchical and insular
information management system - should be among the targets for
determined leadership within the Bank. They also suggest indicators
by which reformers and observers can assess the response.
NGOs and social movements that have targeted the Bank appear
prepared to continue pressing for changes in policy and practice at the
VII
viii Preface
Bank. The present political turn in Washington threatens to reduce
drastically US participation in most multilateral and international coopera-
tion, and has slowed the momentum of critique and reform momentarily.
But interaction between the Bank and nongovernmental bodies, both
cooperative and conflictive, continues to grow. And as networks of
NGOs seek influence over the Bank, NGOs themselves are inevitably
reshaped by their relations with World Bank programs and practice.
PAUL J. NELSON
Acknowledgements
The research and writing of this book has spanned seven years, begin-
ning as a Ph.D dissertation and ending as a focus of four years of
activist research in Washington, DC. I hope that I have recognized
specific intellectual debts clearly along the way, but there are a few
people to whom I wish to give particular thanks.
At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Russ Middleton, Bill
Thiesenhusen, David Stark, David Trubek and Joanne Csete offered
instruction and encouragement. Doug Hellinger and his colleagues at
the Development GAP were generous with advice and office hospital-
ity during research in Washington, as was Bill Rau. The Mennonite
Central Committee program in the Philippines gave much-needed hos-
pitality and guidance during a visit there.
Many NGO colleagues have made the work enjoyable and reward-
ing. Marcos Arruda, Steve Commins, Nancy Alexander, Marijke Torts,
Chad Dobson, Rajesh Tandon, Paul Spray, Lisa McGowan, Ross
Hammond, Veena Siddharth, Jo Marie Griesgraber and Alex Rondos
have inspired through their energy and selfless work, and reminded by
example that even serious work should be fun.
Church World Service and Lutheran World Relief, and my colleagues
in their Office on Development Policy, have supported continued en-
gagement with the World Bank, and this writing owes much to my
experience as a part of that advocacy effort. The research and writing,
however, have been done in my individual capacity, and the book and
the views expressed are neither a project of nor attributable to any
agency.
James Rikcr and Kathryn Sikkink offered valuable advice in a research
working group, and I have benefitted from conversations with Gerald
Schmitz, David Williams and David Gillies. The dissertation research
was funded by the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation,
which has also supported continuing conversation among researchers
on international conflict and cooperation. Thanks to Series Editor Tim
Shaw for probing comments on the manuscript, and for his commit-
ment to exchange among participants in and scholars of international
affairs, across boundaries of the university, government and NGO.
Many staff and consultants at the World Bank have helped clarify
issues, pointed the way to documents or individual sources, and given
IX