Neoliberal ideologies and philanthrocapitalist agendas: what does a ‘smart economics’ discourse empower?

Emerging as this era’s most prominent philanthropist organisation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) wield unparalleled influence over global development agendas. Their philanthrocapitalist approach seeks to apply ‘market logic’ promoting neoliberal economic policies to development challenges – from global health to agricultural development, and, more recently, to gender equality and women’s empowerment. We apply Kashwan, MacLean, and García-López’s (2019) ‘Power in Institutions’ framework to the analysis of BMGF’s organisational documents around gender and triangulate findings through key-informant interviews to explore the multiple dimensions of power that the BMGF exert over mainstream approaches to gender. Overt power is exercised through direct control over the types of gender projects funded and the mainstream monitoring techniques used to track progress in line with the BMGF’s impact-orientated approach. Agenda power is exhibited through their ‘smart economics’ discourse rationalising investments in women that set global development agendas around increased yields, productivity and market integration. Discursive/ideational power is evident through shaping narratives around vulnerability – discursively defining global challenges, how they should be addressed, and by whom. Our findings thus contribute to a growing critique against the current neoliberal development landscape where philanthrocapitalists like the BMGF solidify their hegemony through wielding their immense power to push capitalist development agendas.