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Reforms under the auspices of the IMF: Beware of Greeks bearing gifts

stmm. 2019 (2): 169-186

UDC 316.334.2:339.732.4

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/sociology2019.02.169

Anatolii Arseienko - Candidate of Historical Sciences, Leading Research Fellow at the Department of Economic Sociology, Institute of Sociology of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv).

Email: anatoliy.arseenko@gmail.com

ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3137-6487

Vitalina Butkaliuk - Candidate of Sciences in Sociology, Research Fellow at the Department of Economic Sociology, Institute of Sociology of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv).

Email: vbutkalyuk@ukr.net

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1339-6393

Abstract. The paper studies structure, content and political aspects of the International Monetary Fund’s activities from the perspective of historical and economic sociology. Attention is primarily given to IMF policies implemented in “Third World” countries and “transition” economies after the dismantling of socialism in the USSR and Eastern Europe and collapse of the socialist world system. Drawing upon the relevant literature and social survey findings, the authors argue that radical economic reforms carried out in Ukraine under the aegis of the IMF have proved useless. Furthermore, these reforms have pushed this country to the fringe of peripheral capitalism and turned it into a mere appendage to the “golden billion”. The growth in negative attitudes towards collaboration with the IMF among Ukraine’s citizens indicates a gradual rise of their awareness that there is no prospect of this country’s successful development within the framework of the global neoliberal project.

Keywords: the IMF, the Washington Consensus, neoliberalism, economic reforms, neoliberal economics, public debt, inequality, the lives of ordinary people

Publication in: ukr | rus

References

  1. World Inequality Report 2018. Executive Summary. URL: http://wir2018.wid.world/files/download/wir2018-su... [=Доклад 2018]
  2. Mazover, M. (2016). Governing the World. The History of an Idea. Moskow: Kuchkino pole.
  3. Memorandum on Economic and Financial Policies of March 2, 2017: Official site of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. URL:
  4. https://www.minfin.gov.ua/uploads/redactor/files
  5. Rose, K. B. (2013). Mechanisms and limits of US influence in the IMF: Analytical review. Moscow [= Роуз 2013].
  6. Senchenko, M. I. (2017). The International Monetary Fund – an instrument of enslavement of Ukraine. Kyiv: KVIC [=Сенченко 2017].
  7. UN expert on poverty warns of the dangers of uncontrolled privatization (2018). UN News. URL: https://news.un.org/ru/story/2018/10/1341072 [=Эксперт ООН 2018].
  8. Elwood, W.(2013). Globalization. Moscow: Knigovek Book Club [=Элвуд 2013].
  9. Brzezinski, Z. (1998). The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives. New York: Basic Books. https://doi.org/10.2307/1149289
  10. Bull, B. (2004). Confronting the ‘Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse’: Critical Literature on the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation. The European Journal of Development Research, 16 (3), 737–745. https://doi.org/10.1080/0957881042000266688
  11. De Ploeg, C. K. (2017). Ukraine in the crossfire. Atlanta, GA: Clarity Press, Inc.
  12. Dieter, H. (2004). The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. In need of better performance? Asia Europe Journal. 2, 109–120. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-004-0063-2
  13. Fratianni, M. (2005). The International Monetary Fund and Its Critics. In Michele Fratianni, Paolo Savona, John J. Kirton (Eds.), Sustaining global growth and development: G7 and IMF governance. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, 155–176. https://doi.org/10.7202/012034ar
  14. Gilbert, N, Unger, B. (2009). Do Loans Harm? The Effect of IMF Programs on Inequality. Discussion Paper Series 09-26. Utrecht School ofEconomics, Tjalling C. Koopmans Research Institute, October. Retrieved from http://www.uu.nl/rebo/economie/discussionpapers.
  15. Keaney M. (2011). Picking the entrails of the Washington Consensus. World Review of Political Economy. Spring, 134–158.
  16. Kte’pi B. (2009). International Monetary Fund. Encyclopedia of business in today’s world. C. Wankel, general editor. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications, Inc. 925–926.
  17. Lee S. (2002). International Monetary Fund. New Political Economy. 7 (2), 283–298.
  18. Lloyd V., Weissman R. (2002). International Monetary Fund and World Bank policies undermine labor power and rights. International Journal of Health Services. 32 (3), 433–442. https://doi.org/10.2190/wmc9-0wwj-8qwr-ufpc
  19. Lyons, L. (2017). South Sudan, Haiti and Ukraine Lead World in Suffering. URL: http://www.gallup.com/poll/206891/south-sudan-hait... source=World&g_medium=newsfeed&g_campaign=tiles
  20. Momani, B. (2004). American politization of the International Monetary Fund. Review of International Political Economy. December, 880–904.
  21. Raja, K. (2017). IMF should abandon «failed policies», says human rights reporteur. URL: https://www.sharing.org/information-centre/reports...
  22. Robinson, W. I. (1999). Latin America in the Age of Inequality: Confronting the New “Utopia”. International Studies Review. Autumn, 41–67.
  23. Stiles, K. W. (1991). Negotiating Debt: The IMF Lending Process. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
  24. Stone, R. (2000). Reforming the IMF? Lessons from Assistance to Post-Communist Countries. Policy Memo: 141. URL: http://www.ponarseurasia.org/memo/reforming-imf-le...
  25. Wolf, E. (2014). Pillaging the World. The History and Politics of the IMF. Tectum Verlag Marburg.

Reforms under the auspices of the IMF: Beware of Greeks bearing gifts

stmm. 2019 (2): 169-186

UDC 316.334.2:339.732.4

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/sociology2019.02.169

Anatolii Arseienko - Candidate of Historical Sciences, Leading Research Fellow at the Department of Economic Sociology, Institute of Sociology of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv).

Email: anatoliy.arseenko@gmail.com

ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3137-6487

Vitalina Butkaliuk - Candidate of Sciences in Sociology, Research Fellow at the Department of Economic Sociology, Institute of Sociology of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv).

Email: vbutkalyuk@ukr.net

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1339-6393

Abstract. The paper studies structure, content and political aspects of the International Monetary Fund’s activities from the perspective of historical and economic sociology. Attention is primarily given to IMF policies implemented in “Third World” countries and “transition” economies after the dismantling of socialism in the USSR and Eastern Europe and collapse of the socialist world system. Drawing upon the relevant literature and social survey findings, the authors argue that radical economic reforms carried out in Ukraine under the aegis of the IMF have proved useless. Furthermore, these reforms have pushed this country to the fringe of peripheral capitalism and turned it into a mere appendage to the “golden billion”. The growth in negative attitudes towards collaboration with the IMF among Ukraine’s citizens indicates a gradual rise of their awareness that there is no prospect of this country’s successful development within the framework of the global neoliberal project.

Keywords: the IMF, the Washington Consensus, neoliberalism, economic reforms, neoliberal economics, public debt, inequality, the lives of ordinary people

Publication in: ukr | rus

References

  1. World Inequality Report 2018. Executive Summary. URL: http://wir2018.wid.world/files/download/wir2018-su... [=Доклад 2018]
  2. Mazover, M. (2016). Governing the World. The History of an Idea. Moskow: Kuchkino pole.
  3. Memorandum on Economic and Financial Policies of March 2, 2017: Official site of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. URL:
  4. https://www.minfin.gov.ua/uploads/redactor/files
  5. Rose, K. B. (2013). Mechanisms and limits of US influence in the IMF: Analytical review. Moscow [= Роуз 2013].
  6. Senchenko, M. I. (2017). The International Monetary Fund – an instrument of enslavement of Ukraine. Kyiv: KVIC [=Сенченко 2017].
  7. UN expert on poverty warns of the dangers of uncontrolled privatization (2018). UN News. URL: https://news.un.org/ru/story/2018/10/1341072 [=Эксперт ООН 2018].
  8. Elwood, W.(2013). Globalization. Moscow: Knigovek Book Club [=Элвуд 2013].
  9. Brzezinski, Z. (1998). The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives. New York: Basic Books. https://doi.org/10.2307/1149289
  10. Bull, B. (2004). Confronting the ‘Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse’: Critical Literature on the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation. The European Journal of Development Research, 16 (3), 737–745. https://doi.org/10.1080/0957881042000266688
  11. De Ploeg, C. K. (2017). Ukraine in the crossfire. Atlanta, GA: Clarity Press, Inc.
  12. Dieter, H. (2004). The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. In need of better performance? Asia Europe Journal. 2, 109–120. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-004-0063-2
  13. Fratianni, M. (2005). The International Monetary Fund and Its Critics. In Michele Fratianni, Paolo Savona, John J. Kirton (Eds.), Sustaining global growth and development: G7 and IMF governance. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, 155–176. https://doi.org/10.7202/012034ar
  14. Gilbert, N, Unger, B. (2009). Do Loans Harm? The Effect of IMF Programs on Inequality. Discussion Paper Series 09-26. Utrecht School ofEconomics, Tjalling C. Koopmans Research Institute, October. Retrieved from http://www.uu.nl/rebo/economie/discussionpapers.
  15. Keaney M. (2011). Picking the entrails of the Washington Consensus. World Review of Political Economy. Spring, 134–158.
  16. Kte’pi B. (2009). International Monetary Fund. Encyclopedia of business in today’s world. C. Wankel, general editor. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications, Inc. 925–926.
  17. Lee S. (2002). International Monetary Fund. New Political Economy. 7 (2), 283–298.
  18. Lloyd V., Weissman R. (2002). International Monetary Fund and World Bank policies undermine labor power and rights. International Journal of Health Services. 32 (3), 433–442. https://doi.org/10.2190/wmc9-0wwj-8qwr-ufpc
  19. Lyons, L. (2017). South Sudan, Haiti and Ukraine Lead World in Suffering. URL: http://www.gallup.com/poll/206891/south-sudan-hait... source=World&g_medium=newsfeed&g_campaign=tiles
  20. Momani, B. (2004). American politization of the International Monetary Fund. Review of International Political Economy. December, 880–904.
  21. Raja, K. (2017). IMF should abandon «failed policies», says human rights reporteur. URL: https://www.sharing.org/information-centre/reports...
  22. Robinson, W. I. (1999). Latin America in the Age of Inequality: Confronting the New “Utopia”. International Studies Review. Autumn, 41–67.
  23. Stiles, K. W. (1991). Negotiating Debt: The IMF Lending Process. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
  24. Stone, R. (2000). Reforming the IMF? Lessons from Assistance to Post-Communist Countries. Policy Memo: 141. URL: http://www.ponarseurasia.org/memo/reforming-imf-le...
  25. Wolf, E. (2014). Pillaging the World. The History and Politics of the IMF. Tectum Verlag Marburg.
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