Authoritarianism and Educational System Reforms by the World Bank in LMICs

Global health 2035: a world converging within a generation

Putting public health back into the global cancer agenda

Global health governance and the World Bank

ACT-A: “The international architecture did not work for us”

Alexa McArthur: Master of Clinical Science Student a1187533 email: [email protected] Protocol for the degree of Master of Clinical Science within The Joanna Briggs Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Adelaide Review question / objective The primary objectives of this systematic review are to compare and evaluate the health policy positions across Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka as they relate to maternal mortality and the provision of midwifery services. The specific questions this review will seek to address are: What are the strategies to reduce maternal mortality in Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka? Which strategies have had the greatest impact in relation to a change in maternity care practice within the countries of interest? Background Maternal mortality is defined as death resulting either directly during pregnancy or childbirth or indirectly as a result of complications of either pregnancy or childbirth. It is a leading cause of death and disability among women in low income countries. It is estimated that worldwide each year more than 500,000 women die during pregnancy or childbirth, and at least 10 million women suffer injuries, infection and disabilities.1 Evidence suggests that increasing the number of births overseen by skilled birth attendants, as opposed to traditional birth attendants, is the single most effective means of decreasing the maternal mortality rate.2 For many years in low income countries, traditional birth attendant training has been promoted by the World Health Organisation, where ‘lay midwives’ who are usually older women within the community have been trained to give assistance to women during pregnancy and childbirth.3 Recently, reports have concluded that traditional birth attendants have not made a significant impact on reducing maternal mortality and morbidity.3 The skill level or training that traditional birth attendants have received can vary widely, and the degree to which they can identify complications and then make a referral has been questioned.3 A new focus on training skilled birth attendants has emerged, and in 2004 a joint statement was released by the World Health Organisation (WHO), International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) and the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), concerning the role of the skilled birth attendant, and their cental importance.2 A skilled birth attendant is a health professional (midwife, doctor or nurse) who has been accredited, educated and trained to manage normal, uncomplicated births. He/she is also able to identify, manage and/or refer complicated cases to the nearest referral health centre.2 This is in contrast to traditional birth attendants who are not primarily healthcare professionals, but often older women within the community. In many instances, funding has ceased for traditional birth attendant training, and the new focus has been to build the capacity of skilled birth attendants. The Millenium Development Goal for maternal health (MDG-5) is to see the maternal mortality ratio reduced by three-quarters by the year 2015.1 This is a very ambitious target, given that other targets were to cut poverty in half, and child mortality by two-thirds. But what is the best way forwards? Is there one approach, one policy that will fit every country? While it might be simplistic to assume that what has worked in one country may be helpful in another, it may be of benefit to consider the emerging themes and similarities that arise between these countries. For this reason I am focusing only on textual papers that highlight the strategies that have decreased maternal mortality rates. For the purpose of this review, the focus will be on women giving birth in Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. These countries have been chosen as they lie within a similar geographical context, yet Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka have all been able to drastically reduce their maternal mortality rate over recent years.3 Cambodia has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in southeast Asia, 266 per 100,000 live births4, and where 68% of births take place without the help of a skilled birth attendant.5 In 2008, the maternal mortality rates were 30 (per 100,000 live births) in Sri Lanka, 42 (per 100,000 live births) in Malaysia, and 47 (per 100,000 live births) in Thailand.4 Accuracy in collection of maternal mortality data is often questioned, but a concerted effort since the mid 90's with improved data collection from many countries has been established with support from WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA and the World Bank.4 Cambodia is defined as a low income country by the World Bank, as it had a gross national income per capita of $935 (USD) or less in 2008.6 Over the last few decades, Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka have all managed to improve maternal health, through a variety of strategies. Sri Lanka and Thailand are defined as lower middle income countries, with a Gross national product (GNP) of between $936 - 3,855 USD, and Malaysia as an upper middle income country, with a GNP of $3,856 - $11,905 USD.6 From the authors' perspective, having worked in maternal health in both low and high income countries, the main question to explore is whether financial reasons alone, (providing more healthcare professionals, better facilities for emergencies, etc) are responsible for this improvement, or are there other reasons/strategies that can be identified? For the purpose of this review, a skilled birth attendant will include any health personnel trained to give the necessary supervision, care, and advice to women during pregnancy, labour and in the postnatal period. When traditional birth attendant funding was ceased in 1990, it was on the recommendation of international agencies and academics, but with little evidence base to support this decision.7 Some have argued that the new culture of evidence-based practice is responsible for this shift away from primary health care principles, which support community participation. While it is difficult to assess the effectiveness of traditional birth attendant training, with a focus on community mobilisation, there has been a shift to skilled birth attendant training within a district hospital setting, with the major focus on midwives and doctors, which is easier to evaluate.8 The impact of skilled attendance at birth is influenced by a variety of factors, such as the level of resources available (both staff and equipment), and access issues (long distances to reach health care facility, expense of transport). A prohibiting factor may be the expense of accessing treatment.9 Interventions that can be easily scheduled, such as immunisation services and antenatal care, were much easier to administer, whereas clinical services that require access over 24 hours, such as skilled birth and/or emergency care were harder to provide.10 Others argue that traditional birth attendants still have a place alongside skilled birth attendants and that by working together, in collaboration and true partnership, respecting each others skills, the greatest impact on improving maternal mortality will be achieved.11 Wider issues involve women's status and position of disadvantage. Maternal mortality rates worldwide tend to reflect the position of women within their culture. The more highly women are treated in society, the less likely they are to die during childbirth.12 This also directly relates to education for girls, better nutrition for pregnant women and access to family planning. Commitment from governments to provide the health system structure is vital, not only to provide a skilled birth attendant for each pregnant woman, but also the importance of health clinics and hospitals where referrals can be managed appropriately.12 There are many policy papers and reports from countries such as Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, around these issues of safer motherhood. There have also been large systematic reviews conducted looking at who is attending to birthing women, and the effectiveness they have had on birth outcomes. However, a search of the literature has not located a pooled synthesis of textual findings about the major (policies) factors surrounding maternity care in the above mentioned countries. The aim of this review is to systematically search and appraise all relevant articles of text and opinion, and policy papers in order to determine effective strategies to reduce maternal mortality in Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. Inclusion Criteria Types of participants The review will consider studies that include: Pregnant and birthing women who receive care from a skilled birth attendant. Types of intervention(s)/phenomena of interest The review will consider studies that describe: 1. The health system / service delivery structures and underlying policy. 2. The maternity care provided by a skilled birth attendant. Types of outcomes The primary outcomes of interest in this review are: Strategies that have reduced maternal mortality rates. Secondary outcomes of interest to this review include: Strategies that have had the greatest impact in relation to: Changes to health system structures related to pregnancy and childbirth (including resources / finances) Change in cultural practices related to pregnancy and birth Empowerment of women and their position in society (and what impact this has had with respect to their choice of pregnancy and birth care). Types of papers This review will consider government reports, expert opinion, discussion papers, position papers, and other forms of text, published in the English language. Technical reports, statistical reports and epidemiological reports will be excluded. Search strategy The search strategy aims to find both published and unpublished studies. A three-step search strategy will be utilised in each component of this review. An initial limited search of MEDLINE and CINAHL will be undertaken followed by analysis of the text words contained in the title and abstract, and of the index terms used to describe the article. A second search using all identified keywords and index terms will then be undertaken across all included databases. Thirdly, the reference list of all identified reports and articles will be searched for additional studies. The databases will be searched from 2000, to reflect the approximate timing when traditional birth attendant training was being phased out, and before skilled birth attendant training as an official programme was being promoted. The databases to be searched include: MEDLINE (from 2000) CINAHL (from 2000) EMBASE (from 2000) Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Database Scopus ISI Web of Knowledge LILACS Mednar database Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) World Health Organisation (WHO) The search for unpublished studies will include: Proquest dissertations and theses, Index to theses, Australian digital theses program digital dissertations, and the Networked digital library of theses and dissertations (NDLTD). The Internet will also be searched for reports of projects within the following organisations such as United Nations, World Bank and USAID. Initial keywords to be used will be: skilled birth attendant(s), midwifery, midwife, midwives, lay midwives, nurse midwives, nurses, doctors, maternal mortality rate, survival (rates), safety, training, train, education, upskill, safer motherhood, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka. Assessment of methodological quality Textual papers selected for retrieval will be assessed by two independent reviewers for authenticity prior to inclusion in the review using standardised critical appraisal instruments from the Joanna Briggs Institute Narrative, Opinion and Text Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-NOTARI) (Appendix I). Any disagreements that arise between the reviewers will be resolved through discussion, or with a third reviewer. Data collection Textual data will be extracted from papers included in the review using the standardised data extraction tool from JBI-NOTARI (Appendix II).The data extracted will include specific details about the interventions, populations, study methods and outcomes of significance to the review question and specific objectives. Data synthesis Textual papers will, where possible be pooled using the Narrative, Opinion and Text Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-NOTARI). This will involve the aggregation or synthesis of conclusions to generate a set of statements that represent that aggregation. These categories are then subjected to a metasynthesis in order to produce a single comprehensive set of synthesised findings that can be used as a basis for evidence-based practice. Where textual pooling is not possible the conclusions will be presented in narrative form. Synthesis will involve both the aggregation of categories, and the use of interpretive techniques to summarise the findings of individual studies into a product of practical value. The text will be read and re-read, to identify the meaning of the content, and the degree to which the text has ‘authority’ surrounding the issues serving the best interests of women giving birth in low income countries. Conflicts of interest No conflict of interest declared.

The Role of the WFSA in Reaching the Goals of the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery.

United Nations (UN) adopted 17 global sustainable development agenda to the year 2030 in the 68th general assembly on september, 2015. The global agendas and goals are important for 3 reasons: (1) to adopt the international standard for determining the health status; (2) to identify areas in need of attention; and (3) to advance international cooperation regarding health issues. In the area of infectious diseases, our goals include the eradication of human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome, tuberculosis, and malaria as well as a substantial reduction of hepatitis by the year 2030. In the area of non-communicable diseases, our goal is to reduce premature mortality (<TEX>${\leq}70years$</TEX>) at least 30% by the year 2030. Preventive activities such as smoking cessation, alcohol abstinence, nutritional measures, and physical activities, should also be promoted intensively nationwide. It is also necessary to establish stringent policies for control hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and hypercholesterolemia. Additionally, environmental health, injury by traffic accident, mental health, and drug and alcohol abuse are important health policies. Furthermore, in the area of international health and cooperation, maternal and child health remain important areas of support for underdeveloped countries. Education and training towards the empowerment of health professionals in underdeveloped countries is also an important issue. The global agenda prioritize resources(manpower and budget) allocation of international organizations such as UN, World Health Organization, United Nations Development Programme, and World Bank. The global agenda also sets the contribution levels of Official Developmental Assistance donor countries. Health professionals such as professors and researchers will have to turn their attention to areas of vital international importance, and play an important role in implementation strategies and futhermore guiding global agenda.

Overall this important area of quality of care will clearly require more research to be fully understood. Better quality monitoring tools also need to be developed with a focus on labour and labour outcome prediction. Meanwhile to complement Kruk and colleagues’ research efforts smaller facilities need to be better equipped with both the requisite and trained human resources for health care as well as with other inputs that are essential to quality provision of EmONC services. (Excerpt) Copyright © The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open Access.

Effects of the Global Coronavirus Disease-2019 Pandemic on Early Childhood Development: Short- and Long-Term Risks and Mitigating Program and Policy Actions

Introduction By the time the World Bank started to classify countries by per capita incomes into low, middle and high income countries in the 1980s, Malaysia was already a middle income country. The World Bank used Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of US$1,006–3,975 and US$3,976–12,275 in 2010 to classify countries into lower and upper middle incomes, respectively (World Bank 2011 a ). Based on the 1985 World Bank classification, Malaysia was already a middle income country with a per capita income of US$2,161 (US$2,027 in current prices) (World Bank 2011 b ). With a per capita income of US$5,264 in 1985 prices (US$8,519 in current prices), Malaysia managed to remain an upper middle income country. This chapter attempts to explain how Malaysia became an upper middle income country. Natural resources (minerals, forest products, and agriculture) and industrialization have been the prime routes taken by developing countries to reach middle income status. Major oil exporters such as the North African, Middle Eastern, and Venezuelan economies have relied almost exclusively on oil exports to record middle incomes. Oil has only been one of the exports that drove income growth in Brazil, Malaysia, and Mexico. The only developing countries to graduate into developed high income economies, i.e., Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan, used manufacturing as the prime path to rapid Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. Malaysia was no different from most developing countries as its economy was driven by plantation agriculture and tin mining during the British administration until the New Economic Policy (NEP) was launched. The Malaysian government recognized that the supply of natural resources would not be infinite and that dependence on agriculture alone could be catastrophic if the terms of trade are affected by the fallacy of composition problem.Hence, the approach the government took was to diversify primary exports and to stimulate manufacturing growth by attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) (Malaysia 1971). At the time the NEP was introduced, ethnic identification of the economy in Malaysia was sharp as the Bumiputeras populated mainly in the rural areas, the Chinese concentrated in urban business and mining, and the Indians confined to plantation agriculture and urban occupations as labourers. Coming after the bloodshed on 13 May 1969 that had threatened to erupt into an ethnic crisis, the NEP was crafted with the twin goals of alleviating poverty and restructuring the economy to remove ethnic identification.

Mechanical ventilators for low- and middle-income countries: informing a context-specific and sustainable design

The World Bank’s (WB) growing emphasis on decentralizing educational systems has sparked widespread discussion in the literature. This study examines whether WB reforms are indeed associated with decentralizing educational systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), as commonly assumed. Using unique, untapped country-level panel data on 30 LMICs from 1990 to 2019, I do not find a significant association between the WB’s actions and changes observed in educational systems. Employing the institutional logics perspective, I argue that the WB’s diffusion of “homogeneous” educational reforms may clash with “heterogeneous” socioeconomic, political, and cultural contexts, thus hindering the direct translation of reforms into tangible outcomes on the ground.

Implementation science and breast cancer control: A Breast Health Global Initiative (BHGI) perspective from the 2010 Global Summit

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Acknowledgments I would like to thank Paul Cammack, Adam David Morton, Stuart Shields and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier draft. Notes 1. James D. Wolfensohn & François Bourguignon, Development and Poverty Reduction: Looking Back, Looking Ahead (World Bank, 2004), p. 32. 2. Paul Cammack, ‘Neoliberalism, the World Bank, and the New Politics of Development’, in Uma Kothari & Martin Minogue (eds), Development Theory and Practice: Critical Perspectives (Palgrave, 2002), pp. 157–78; Paul Cammack, ‘The Mother of all Governments: The World Bank's Matrix for Global Governance’, in Rorden Wilkinson & Steve Hughes (eds), Global Governance: Critical Perspectives (Routledge, 2002), pp. 36–53; Paul Cammack, ‘The Governance of Global Capitalism’, Historical Materialism, Vol. 11, No. 2 (2003), pp. 37–59; and Paul Cammack, ‘What the World Bank Means by Poverty Reduction and Why it Matters’, New Political Economy, Vol. 9, No. 2 (2004), pp. 189–211. 3. Cammack, ‘Neoliberalism’, p. 178. 4. Cammack, ‘The Mother of all Governments’, p. 50. 5. Cammack, ‘What the World Bank Means by Poverty Reduction’, p. 197. Despite Stiglitz's somewhat acrimonious departure in January 2000, his legacy endures insofar as the logic of competition remains at the heart of World Bank political economy. The 2005 World Development Report, for example, states that that ‘a good investment climate encourages firms to invest by removing unjustified costs, risks, and barriers to competition’. What is required, therefore, is ‘an environment that fosters the competitive processes that Joseph Schumpeter called “creative destruction” – an environment in which firms have opportunities and incentives to test their ideas, strive for success, and prosper or fail’. World Bank, World Development Report 2005: A Better Investment Climate for Everyone (World Bank & Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 2. 6. Though the frame of reference for the central argument of this article is Cammack's scholarship on the governance of global capitalism, the utility of the analysis being presented certainly extends to fall within a variety of contemporary historical materialist scholarship. For example, the article could easily complement recent work on the ‘transnationalisation’ of the state. See William I. Robinson, A Theory of Global Capitalism: Production, Class, and State in a Transnational World (The John Hopkins University Press, 2004); and, for an application of the theory, William I. Robinson, Transnational Conflicts: Central America, Social Change, and Globalization (Verso, 2003). It could also serve as useful postscript to the analysis of the transnationalisation of the Mexican state by Adam David Morton, ‘Structural Change and Neoliberalism in Mexico: “Passive Revolution” in the Global Political Economy’, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 24, No. 4 (2003), pp. 631–53. However, I should stress that my research seeks to develop an approach that places investigatory primacy upon the study of ‘social form’ in capitalism and, as such, advances a different kind of dialectical analysis to that operationalised by Robinson, Morton and other contemporary theorists of ‘global economy’. By approaching the question of national reforms from a different methodological standpoint, the wider research of which this article is constitutive has arrived at qualitatively different conclusions to those of Robinson and others. For further clarification of this methodological distinction and why it is important, see the exchange between Andreas Bieler & Adam David Morton, ‘Globalisation, the State and Class Struggle: A “Critical Economy” Engagement with Open Marxism’, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Vol. 5, No. 4 (2003), pp. 467–99; and Werner Bonefeld, ‘Critical Economy and Social Constitution: A Reply to Bieler and Morton’, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Vol. 6, No. 2 (2004), pp. 231–37. 7. Mark E. Williams, Market Reforms in Mexico: Coalitions, Institutions, and the Politics of Policy Change (Rowman and Littlefield, 2001), p. 3. 8. See Nora Lustig, Mexico: The Remaking of an Economy (Brookings Institution, 1995); Gerardo Otero (ed.), Neoliberalism Revisited: Economic Restructuring and Mexico's Political Future (Westview Press, 1996); and Susanne Soederberg, ‘State, Crisis, and Capital Accumulation in Mexico’, Historical Materialism, Vol. 9, No. 1 (2001), pp. 61–84. 9. Here, I am paraphrasing Wolfensohn & Bourguignon, Development and Poverty Reduction, p. 2. 10. Joseph Stiglitz, ‘More Instruments and Broader Goals: Moving Toward the Post-Washington Consensus’, The WIDER Annual Lecture, Helsinki, Finland, 7 January 1998; and Joseph Stiglitz, ‘Towards a New Paradigm for Development Strategies, Policies and Processes’, Prebisch Lecture, UNCTAD, Geneva, 19 October 1998. 11. Joseph Stiglitz, ‘Distribution, Efficiency, and Voice: Designing the Second Generation of Reforms’, speech delivered during conference sponsored by the Brazilian Ministry of Land Reform and the World Bank, Asset Distribution, Poverty and Economic Growth, Brasilia, 14 July 1998. 12. Principal authors of the Viewpoints reports have included Shahid Javed Burki, a former finance minister for Pakistan, former World Bank vice president for the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region, and most recently the chief executive officer of Washington DC-based EMP Financial Advisors; Sebastian Edwards, a Chicago-trained economist, columnist for the Wall Street Journal, consultant to numerous international organisations and multinational firms, former World Bank Chief Economist for the LAC, and currently Henry Ford II Professor of International Business Economics at the Anderson School of Management, California; Guillermo E. Perry, former Colombian minister of finance and public credit, former Colombian senator and constitutional assemblyman, and director of LAC policy research at the Bank since 1996; and David de Ferranti, chair of the Rockefeller Foundation's finance committee, former director at the Rand policy research institute, and current Bank vice president for LAC. 13. This ‘unfinished’/‘second generation’/‘incomplete’ discourse is not confined to the Viewpoints series. See, for example, José Luis Guasch, Labor Market Reform and Job Creation: The Unfinished Agenda in Latin American and Caribbean Countries (World Bank, 1999); and Indermit S. Gill, Claudio E. Montenegro & Dörte Dömeland (eds), Crafting Labor Policy: Techniques and Lessons from Latin America (World Bank & Oxford University Press, 2002). Nor is it confined to World Bank reports for the LAC region – see, for example, United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Productive Development in Open Economies (ECLAC, 2004). 14. Shahid Javed Burki & Sebastian Edwards, Latin America after Mexico: Quickening the Pace, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Viewpoints (World Bank, 1996), p. 11. 15. Shahid Javed Burki & Sebastian Edwards, Dismantling the Populist State: The Unfinished Revolution in Latin America and the Caribbean, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Viewpoints (World Bank, 1996), p. 25. 16. The most explicit and, at the same time, accessible exposition of this ‘deep interventionist’ competition logic can be found in World Bank, Transition – The First Ten Years: Analysis and Lessons for Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (World Bank, 2002). 17. Burki & Edwards, Dismantling the Populist State, p. 27. 18. See, for example, Juan Luis Londoño, Poverty, Inequality, and Human Capital Development in Latin America, 1950–2025, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Viewpoints (World Bank, 1996). 19. Shahid Javed Burki & Guillermo E. Perry, The Long March: A Reform Agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean in the Next Decade, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Viewpoints (World Bank, 1997). 20. Ibid., p. 57. 21. Shahid Javed Burki & Guillermo E. Perry, Beyond the Washington Consensus: Institutions Matter, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Viewpoints (World Bank, 1998). 22. Ibid., p. 25. 23. Ibid., pp. 34–6. 24. Shahid Javed Burki, Guillermo E. Perry & William Dillinger, Beyond the Center: Decentralizing the State, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Viewpoints (World Bank, 1999), pp. 1–7. 25. David de Ferranti, Guillermo E. Perry, Indermit S. Gill & Luis Servén, with Francisco H. G. Ferreira, Nadeem Ilah, William F. Maloney & Martin Rama, Securing our Future in a Global Economy, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Viewpoints (World Bank, 2000), pp. 1–12. 26. Ibid., p. 123. 27. Ibid., p. 125. 28. David de Ferranti, Guillermo E. Perry, Daniel Lederman & William F. Maloney, From Natural Resources to the Knowledge Economy: Trade and Job Quality (World Bank, 2002). 29. Ibid., p. 2. 30. David de Ferranti, Guillermo E. Perry, Indermit Gill, J. Luis Guasch, William F. Maloney, Carolina Sánchez-Páramo & Norbert Schady, Closing the Gap in Education and Technology, Latin American and Caribbean Studies (World Bank, 2003). 31. Ibid., p. 10. 32. David de Ferranti, Guillermo E. Perry, Francisco H. G. Ferreira & Michael Walton, Inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean: Breaking with History?, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Viewpoints (World Bank, 2004). 33. Nikki Craske, ‘Another Mexican Earthquake? An Assessment of the 2 July 2000 Elections’, Government and Opposition, Vol. 36, No. 1 (2001), pp. 40–1. 34. Vicente Fox Quesada, A Los Pinos: Recuento autobiográfico y politico (Editorial Oceano de México, 1999), pp. 112–3. 35. Ramón Muñoz Gutiérrez, Pasión por un Buen Gobierno: Administración por Calidad en el gobierno de Vicente Fox, en Guanajuato (Editorial Grijalbo, 2003), pp. 9–35, 57–62, and 23. Further evidence of Fox's politics can be found in his involvement with prominent Latin American ‘third way’ political forums, such as the Grupo Mangabeira and the Grupo San Angel. Fox's first foreign minister discusses this involvement, and the content of the resulting ‘Buenos Aires consensus’, in Jorge G. Castañeda, ‘Mexico: Permuting Power’, New Left Review, No. 7 (2001), pp. 17–32. Such forums have been criticised for espousing ‘the ultimate goal of a market society of possessive individuals’: see John Gledhill, ‘Some Conceptual and Substantive Limitations of Contemporary Western (Global) Discourses of Rights and Social Justice’, in Christopher Abel & Colin M. Lewis (eds), Exclusion & Engagement: Social Policy in Latin America (Institute of Latin American Studies, 2002), pp. 131–47. 36. The Mexican Employers' Confederation (COPARMEX) had been formed in 1929 by conservative, and predominantly Catholic, Monterrey-based industrialists united in their opposition to the social reformism of the Mexican government at this time and, in particular, to the newly adopted Federal Labour Law. COPARMEX went on to cultivate a number of voluntary organisations that would later provide support for the National Action Party (PAN) and form the neopanista wing of the party, to which Fox is most closely aligned. 37. Roderic Ai Camp, Mexico's Mandarins: Crafting a Power Elite for the Twenty-First Century (University of California Press, 2002), p. 269. 38. Ibid., p. 270. 39. Roderic Ai Camp, Politics in Mexico: The Democratic Transformation (Oxford University Press, 2003), p. 183. 40. Poder Ejecutivo Federal, Plan Nacional de Desarrollo, 2001–2006 (Poder Ejecutivo Federal, 2001). 41. Ibid., pp. 21–2, my translation. 42. Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social, Programa Nacional de Política Laboral, 2001–6 (Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social, 2001). 43. Ibid., p. 112, my translation. 44. The discursive correspondence between the Fox government's policy documents and World Bank, World Development Report 2005: A Better Investment Climate for Everyone, is striking: ‘An investment climate that encourages growth creates sustainable jobs and opportunities for microentrepreneurs – the key pathways out of poverty for poor people, pathways that will become more crowded with coming demographic changes (p. 19). … It also encourages people to invest more in their own education and skills to take advantage of better jobs in the future. There is thus a two-way link between skills and jobs, with an improved investment climate complementing efforts to improve human development (p. 33). … There are, however, short-term costs due to changes in job characteristics and greater labour mobility in a modern, productive economy. This reinforces the importance of looking at labour market policies in the context of broader strategies, including efforts to foster a more skilled and adaptable workforce and to help workers cope with change’ (p. 142). 45. Gustavo Castro Soto, ‘The World Bank in Mexico’, Chiapas al Día, No. 236, 22 March 2001, http://www.ciepac.org/bulletins/ingles/ing236.htm, accessed on 31 January 2005. 46. ‘Directivos del Banco Mundial se reúnen con presidente de México y reafirman confianza en la economía del país’, World Bank press release, 20 January 2003. 47. See Dan Morrow (Lead Researcher), ‘Mexico: Country Assistance Evaluation’, Operations Evaluation Department, World Bank, 28 June 2001; and the author's interview with a Senior Operations Officer, Colombia and Mexico Country Management Unit, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank Group), Mexico City, 1 December 2003. 48. Other Mexican officials present at the meetings included: Carlos Gadsen (Director General of the National Institute for Federalism and Municipal Development); Angel Gurría (Minister of Finance and Public Credit); Rodrigo Morales (Director of the Centre for Economic Investigation); Ricardo Ochoa (a Director General in the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit); Moises Pineda (now an executive at the World Bank); Cecilia Ramos (former Minister for Economic Affairs in the Mexican Embassy to the UK, and now a representative of Mexico at the World Bank); and Eduardo Sojo (the Presidential Coordinator of Public Policy). 49. Marcel M. Giugale, Olivier Lafourcade & Vinh H. Nguyen (eds), Mexico: A Comprehensive Development Agenda for the New Era (World Bank, 2001). 50. World Bank Comprehensive Development Secretariat, ‘Comprehensive Development Framework: Implementation Experience in Low- and Middle-Income Countries – Progress Report’, 26 April 2002, p. 59. 51. See Marcel M. Giugale, ‘A Comprehensive Development Agenda for the New Era: Synthesis’, in Giugale et al., Mexico: A Comprehensive Development Agenda, p. 3. 52. Ibid., pp. 15–16; also William F. Maloney, with Gladys Lopez-Acevedo & Ana Revenga, ‘Labor Markets’, in Giugale et al., Mexico: A Comprehensive Development Agenda, pp. 511–36. 53. World Bank, ‘Memorandum of the President of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and International Finance Corporation to the Executive Directors on a Country Assistance Strategy of the World Bank Group for the United Mexican States’, Report No. 23849-ME, Colombia–Mexico–Venezuela Country Management Unit, Latin America and the Caribbean Region, 23 April 2002; Ulrich Lächler (Lead Researcher), ‘Mexico: Enhancing Factor Productivity Growth’, Country Economic Memorandum, Report No. 17392-ME, Mexico Department, Latin America and the Caribbean Region, World Bank, 31 August 1998; and World Bank, ‘Memorandum of the President of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Finance Corporation to the Executive Directors on a Country Assistance Strategy Progress Report of the World Bank Group for the United Mexican States’, Report No. 22147-ME, Colombia–Mexico–Venezuela Country Management Unit, Latin America and the Caribbean Region, 21 May 2001. 54. Morrow, ‘Mexico: Country Assistance Evaluation’. 55. Ibid., p. iii. 56. ‘Memorandum to the Executive Directors and the President’, 28 June 2001, in Morrow, ‘Mexico: Country Assistance Evaluation’. 57. World Bank, ‘Memorandum of the President of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and International Finance Corporation to the Executive Directors on a Country Assistance Strategy of the World Bank Group for the United Mexican States’, p. 1, emphasis added. 58. Ibid., pp. 43–50. 59. Ibid., p. 22, emphasis added. 60. Official Diary, Poder Ejecutivo Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, 6 December 2001. 61. Gillette Hall (Lead Researcher), Estrategia Desarrollo de los Estados del Sur de México, Vols. I and II (World Bank, 2003). 62. ‘México necesita combatir la pobreza en el sur para consolidar su prosperidad económica’, World Bank press release, No. 2004/012/MEX, 25 September 2003. 63. Olivier Lafourcade cited in ‘World Bank Team Offers Policy Menu’, http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/LACEXT/MEXICOEXTN/0,,contentMDK:20018971∼menuPK:338416∼pagePK:141137∼piPK:141127∼theSitePK:338397,00.html (accessed on 31 January 2005). 64. The term ‘official’ here refers to those unions that were given privileged political access to state resources under the PRI and, as a result, were able to broaden membership and defeat their adversaries within the labour movement. The dominant position of these ‘state-corporatist’ unions remained unchallenged until the 1980s and the onset of neoliberal restructuring. 65. Lächler, ‘Mexico: Enhancing Factor Productivity Growth’, pp. 91–2; Graciela Bensusán, ‘A New Scenario for Mexican Trade Unions: Changes in the Structure of Political and Economic Opportunities’, in Kevin J. Middlebrook (ed.), Dilemmas of Political Change in Mexico (Institute of Latin American Studies and Center for US–Mexican Studies, 2004), pp. 261–5; see also James G. Samstad, ‘Corporatism and Democratic Transition: State and Labor During the Salinas and Zedillo Administrations’, Latin American Politics and Society, Vol. 44, No. 4 (2002), pp. 1–28. 66. Giugale, ‘A Comprehensive Development Agenda for the New Era’, p. 15. 67. Maloney, with Lopez-Acevedo & Revenga, ‘Labor Markets’, p. 513, emphasis added. 68. This follows the typology of Mexican labour unions in Bensusán, ‘A New Scenario’, pp. 237–85. Bensusán's third type is ‘movement unionism’, which refers to those unions that are insistent about their opposition to neoliberalism and openly seek to challenge the state. 69. Abascal was quoted as follows in La Jornada, 26 May 2001: ‘In effect, there is a shared vision about the necessity to modernize labor legislation. We are in agreement with the modernization of this legislation, but we are in agreement with everyone: national and international investors, the World Bank, and workers. Everyone is in agreement because it is necessary to do it’ (my translation). 70. Kevin J. Middlebrook, ‘Mexico's Democratic Transitions: Dynamics and Prospects’, in Kevin J. Middlebrook (ed), Dilemmas of Political Change in Mexico (Institute of Latin American Studies and Center for US–Mexican Studies, 2004), p. 36. The UNT stress in their counter-proposal for labour reform that ‘the choice is not flexibility versus justice’, and neither is it between ‘productivity and the profit of the firm versus the rights of workers’ – see Unión Nacional de Trabajadores, ‘Por un Nueva Ley Federal del Trabajo para la reestructuración productiva y la transición democrática’, Trabajadores, No. 30 (2002), my translation. The compulsion to make this clear testifies to the extent of the UNT's suspicion as regards the Fox government's for labour The the state to to workers is that which from being market not that which from or Mexico Labor and a of the Mexico Labor the United and the Center of the See ‘Por un Nueva Ley Federal del Trabajo para la reestructuración productiva y la transición Secretaría de y Programa Nacional de del Desarrollo, (Secretaría de y 2002). World Bank, Country Economic and for Report Mexico and Country Management Unit, Latin America and the Caribbean Region, 30 July 2002, p. 16. See Ramos de and in Policy The First of Vicente Center for International Development at University No. 2001). Fox his efforts at public support a and the on on two in See Ramos de pp. the for reform was the of in the form of a ‘The New Public Jornada, 28 March 2001). For a of see Secretaría de y First of and of the Financial Reforms’, 7 May 2001. See ‘The Political of in Mexico’, in and S. (eds), and in Latin America University Press, pp. The term was by Guillermo with reference to the of in and Carlos in A key of these was the in which ‘the the of a the of the & Latin America 2003), p. the between Fox and do not here for et al., out that their as for their own to the of the of and to policy in a by market (p. have Fox with to his own the has an of in the see Camp, Politics in p. ‘a study of the that the on a of the time with for Fox has had an with prominent and and de de had a with Carlos which Fox had to a that the of Guanajuato in Fox's to for president his de as to the and his of his with the See Mexico: as It Vol. No. (2002), pp. For Fox had to at the that the reforms would further of a to the during meetings a See La Jornada, 14 December 2000 and 21 December La Jornada, 6 April 2001. La Jornada, April 2001. During 2002, a reform to the development the Federal of and to Public a reform to the of the and the of the See Secretaría de y ‘The Executive to the Economic for had been a of the Grupo San Angel with Fox and had public of support for the government July 2003). and Mexico & Report, January ‘The of Vicente Fox is ‘the president will to in Los but be changes from his like other but be a political in July 2003). The a Years: The and Fox as a somewhat of an 2003). See Nacional a la y de los de la Nacional de México, 2004). as to the number of to the Ministry for the there were 28 2003), there were Labor & 2003). Mexico Labor & December and La Jornada, December 2003. in December 2003. quoted in March For a further of the of reform under Fox, see ‘The of The Political Economy of Reform in Mexico’, Capital & Class, No. pp. La Jornada, December See, for example, World Bank, ‘Memorandum of the President of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and International Finance Corporation to the Executive Directors on a Country Assistance Strategy of the World Bank Group in with the United Mexican States’, Report Colombia and Mexico Country Management Unit, Latin America and the Caribbean Region, April and M. at an Vol. No. 1 (2004), pp. but other example, the on the Strategy key for growth within the the of barriers to the climate for and labour See the The for growth and Report from the Group by for Official of the 2004).

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