IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ecolab/v31y2020i2p230-248.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The EBRD, fail forward neoliberalism and the construction of the European periphery

Author

Listed:
  • Stuart Shields

Abstract

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is an institution, a set of programmes and policies designed to mark a number of important reforms not just in the post-Soviet space but in the wider European political economy. It is committed to developing a competitive business environment, foreign investment and private sector activity in the post-communist space. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is considered to be a key inter-state mechanism enabling member states to negotiate post-communist reforms. The paper reorients analysis of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, claiming that existing framings of the role of the EBRD ignore its tangible neoliberalising pressures. It argues that the EBRD works to fundamentally restructure states in the post-communist space in three ways: (1) the configuration of an ‘appropriately’ neoliberal economic space, (2) the construction of subaltern subjectivities in the regional space, and (3) the persistent dominance of expert knowledge and policy practice external to the state. This restructuring is intended to further neoliberalism in the economic space of the region. By uncoupling the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development from a state centric analysis, the paper reveals how the technical aspects of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development activities configure particular neoliberal rationalities and competencies not as a putative superstate, but as a key site for the ever-deeper encroachment of neoliberalisation in peripheral European states. JEL Codes: P390, F550

Suggested Citation

  • Stuart Shields, 2020. "The EBRD, fail forward neoliberalism and the construction of the European periphery," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 31(2), pages 230-248, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecolab:v:31:y:2020:i:2:p:230-248
    DOI: 10.1177/1035304620916652
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1035304620916652
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1035304620916652?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Erik Berglof & Dominique Foray & Michael Landesmann & Justin Yifu Lin & Mario Nauro Campos & Peter Sanfey & Slavo Radosevic & Natalya Volchkova, 2015. "Transition economics meets new structural economics," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(3), pages 191-220, September.
    2. Erik Berglof, 2012. "Filling the Gaps — the Vienna Initiative and the Role of International Financial Institutions in Crisis Management and Resolution," International Economic Association Series, in: Franklin Allen & Masahiko Aoki & Jean-Paul Fitoussi & Nobuhiro Kiyotaki & Roger Gordon & Joseph E. S (ed.), The Global Macro Economy and Finance, chapter 11, pages 211-223, Palgrave Macmillan.
    3. Peck, Jamie, 2012. "Constructions of Neoliberal Reason," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199662081.
    4. Daniela Veronica Gabor, 2012. "The Road to Financialization in Central and Eastern Europe: The Early Policies and Politics of Stabilizing Transition," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(2), pages 227-249, April.
    5. Weber, Steven, 1994. "Origins of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(1), pages 01-38, January.
    6. Helmut Reisen, 2015. "Will the AIIB and the NDB Help Reform Multilateral Development Banking?," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 6(3), pages 297-304, September.
    7. Cord Jakobeit, 1992. "The EBRD: Redundant, or an important actor in the transformation of Eastern Europe?," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 27(3), pages 119-123, May.
    8. Erik Berglof & Dominique Foray & Michael Landesmann & Justin Yifu Lin & Mario Nauro Campos & Peter Sanfey & Slavo Radosevic & Natalya Volchkova, 2015. "Transition economics meets new structural economics," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 18(3), pages 191-220, July.
    9. Campos, Nauro F. & Horváth, Roman, 2012. "On the reversibility of structural reforms," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 217-219.
    10. Rachel A. Epstein, 2014. "When do foreign banks 'cut and run'? Evidence from west European bailouts and east European markets," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(4), pages 847-877, August.
    11. World Bank, 2011. "World Development Report 2011 [Rapport sur le développement dans le monde 2011 : Conflits, sécurité et développement - Abrégé]," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 4389.
    12. Erik Berglof, 2015. "New structural economics meets European transition," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 114-130, April.
    13. Piroska, Dóra & Podvršič, Ana, 2018. "New European Banking Governance and Crisis of Democracy: Insights from the European post-socialist periphery," Corvinus Economics Working Papers (CEWP) 2018/05, Corvinus University of Budapest.
    14. Ben-Artzi,Ruth, 2016. "Regional Development Banks in Comparison," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107163430, October.
    15. Martin Myant & Jan Drahokoupil & Ivan Lesay, 2013. "The Political Economy of Crisis Management in East–Central European Countries," Europe-Asia Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 65(3), pages 383-410.
    16. Erik Berglof, 2015. "New structural economics meets European transition," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 114-130, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Piotr Żuk & Jan Toporowski, 2020. "Capitalism after communism: The triumph of neoliberalism, nationalist reaction and waiting for the leftist wave," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 31(2), pages 158-171, June.
    2. Hannah C. Gabriel, 2024. "Bankruptcy and international intervention: The case of Addiko bank," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(1), pages 339-357, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Botrić Valerija & Broz Tanja, 2016. "Competitiveness, Trade with the EU and Labour Markets: Challenges for the Western Balkans," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 11(2), pages 20-32, December.
    2. Opeyemi Idowu ALUKO, 2015. "Political Economy of Crony Capitalism: The Prospect and the Bane," Journal of Economics Library, KSP Journals, vol. 2(3), pages 192-197, September.
    3. Mohammad Zulfan Tadjoeddin, 2012. "Electoral conflict and the maturity of local democracy in Indonesia: testing the modernisation hypothesis," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 476-497.
    4. Helen M. Haugh & Alka Talwar, 2016. "Linking Social Entrepreneurship and Social Change: The Mediating Role of Empowerment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(4), pages 643-658, February.
    5. Chang Woon Nam & Jan Schumacher, 2014. "Dynamics and Time Frameof Post War Recovery Required for Compensating Civil War Economic Losses," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 15(03), pages 79-87, August.
    6. Sacchetto, Camilla & Logan, Sarah & Collier, Paul & Kriticos, Sebastian, 2021. "Strengthening development finance in fragile contexts," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 111560, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Stephanie Barrientos & Adwoa Owusuaa Bobie, 2016. "Promoting Gender equality in the cocoa-chocolate value chain: opportunities and challenges in Ghana," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 062016, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    8. Vincent A. Floreani & Gladys López-Acevedo & Martín Rama, 2021. "Conflict and Poverty in Afghanistan’s Transition," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(10), pages 1776-1790, October.
    9. Leigh Johnson, 2013. "Index Insurance and the Articulation of Risk-Bearing Subjects," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(11), pages 2663-2681, November.
    10. Takeshi Aida, 2020. "Revisiting suicide rate during wartime: Evidence from the Sri Lankan civil war," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(10), pages 1-20, October.
    11. Alkire, Sabina & Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Peterman, Amber & Quisumbing, Agnes & Seymour, Greg & Vaz, Ana, 2013. "The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 71-91.
    12. Janus, Thorsten & Riera-Crichton, Daniel, 2015. "Economic shocks, civil war and ethnicity," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 32-44.
    13. Isis Gaddis & Stephan Klasen, 2014. "Economic development, structural change, and women’s labor force participation:," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 27(3), pages 639-681, July.
    14. Andrew F. Cooper, 2017. "The BRICS’ New Development Bank: Shifting from Material Leverage to Innovative Capacity," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 8(3), pages 275-284, September.
    15. Thilsted, Shakuntala Haraksingh & Thorne-Lyman, Andrew & Webb, Patrick & Bogard, Jessica Rose & Subasinghe, Rohana & Phillips, Michael John & Allison, Edward Hugh, 2016. "Sustaining healthy diets: The role of capture fisheries and aquaculture for improving nutrition in the post-2015 era," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 126-131.
    16. Asiedu, Elizabeth & Azomahou, Théophile T. & Getachew, Yoseph & Yitbarek, Eleni, 2021. "Share the love: Parental bias, women empowerment and intergenerational mobility," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 846-867.
    17. World Bank Group, 2014. "West Bank and Gaza Investment Climate Assessment : Fragmentation and Uncertainty," World Bank Publications - Reports 20268, The World Bank Group.
    18. Kritika Mathur & Nidhi Kaicker & Raghav Gaiha & Katsushi S. Imai & Ganesh Thapa, 2014. "Financialisation of food commodity markets, price surge and volatility: new evidence," Chapters, in: Raghbendra Jha & Raghav Gaiha & Anil B. Deolalikar (ed.), Handbook on Food, chapter 7, pages 149-176, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Alkire, Sabina & Santos, Maria Emma, 2014. "Measuring Acute Poverty in the Developing World: Robustness and Scope of the Multidimensional Poverty Index," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 251-274.
    20. Michael Chasukwa & Dan Banik, 2019. "Institutional bypass and aid effectiveness in Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-22, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ecolab:v:31:y:2020:i:2:p:230-248. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.