ABSTRACT

Shortlisted for the Inaugural International Political Economy Group annual book prize, 2006.

An incisive exploration of the interventions of the World Bank in severely indebted African states. Understanding sovereignty as a frontier rather than a boundary, this key study develops a vision of a powerful international organization reconciling a global political economy with its own designs and a specific set of challenges posed by the African region. This analysis details the nature of the World Bank intervention in the sovereign frontier, investigating institutional development, discursive intervention, and political stabilization. It tackles the methods by which the World Bank has led a project to re-shape certain African states according to a governance template, leading to the presentation of 'success stories' in a continent associated with reform failure.

This conceptually innovative book details a political economy of the World Bank in Africa that is both globally contextualized and attentive to individual states. It is the only volume to look at the bank's relations with Africa and will interest all students and researchers of African politics and the World Bank.

part |2 pages

PART I The governance encounter: the World Bank, governance states and a new sovereign frontier

chapter 1|20 pages

The road to governance

The World Bank and Africa

chapter 2|20 pages

Governance states in Africa

Conceptualising the encounter between the World Bank and the sovereign frontier

chapter 3|26 pages

Conceptualising the World Bank

Governance and global régimes

part |2 pages

PART II Constructing governance states: institutions, discourse, security

chapter 4|11 pages

Introducing post-conditionality

chapter 5|16 pages

The mechanics of post-conditionality

chapter 7|11 pages

Securing governance states

chapter 8|5 pages

Neoliberalism’s revenge?