Contesting Global Governance: Multilateral Economic Institutions and Global Social Movements

TLDR

Global governance is increasingly shaped by interactions between international institutions and diverse civil society actors, creating a new form of multilateral engagement. The study examines complex multilateralism by analyzing the interactions among the IMF, World Bank, WTO and environmental, labour, and women’s movements. The authors conduct a comparative analysis of how the IMF, World Bank, and WTO respond to pressure from environmental, labour, and women’s movements, mapping institutional changes, policy shifts, and movement tactics. Their analysis reveals how these institutions and movements shape global governance, charting a significant portion of the ongoing contest.

Abstract

This book argues that increasing engagement between international institutions and sectors of civil society is producing a new form of global governance. The authors investigate 'complex multilateralism' by studying the relationship between three multilateral economic institutions (the IMF, World Bank, and World Trade Organization), and three global social movements (environmental, labour and women's movements). They provide a rich comparative analysis of the institutional response to social movement pressure, tracing institutional change, policy modification and social movement tactics as they struggle to influence the rules and practices governing trade, finance and development regimes. The contest to shape global governance is increasingly being conducted upon a number of levels and amongst a diverse set of actors. Analysing a unique breadth of institutions and movements, this book charts an important part of that contest.