The World Bank and its potential for reform: the human rights perspective

This chapter examines why the Bank has not adopted a human rights policy despite a number of factors that would suggest otherwise, including internal and external pressure as well as the Bank’s own pro-human rights rhetoric. The answer to this puzzle lies in the Bank’s organizational culture, which is framed in such a way that its employees have resisted engaging with human rights in their work. Existing theories behind the marginality of human rights at the institution have often focused on the legal restrictions in its Articles of Agreement and the politics among member countries on its Board of Executive Directors. I argue that this approach has underemphasized organizational dynamics which this chapter will uncover, particularly with respect to power struggles between different experts. I highlight the ‘interpretive gaps’ between professional subcultures as a critical obstacle toward operationalizing human rights and achieving widespread norm internalization in the Bank.