Defunding the Fund, Running on the Bank

Abstract

Two ordinarily impenetrable financial institutions—the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank—have finally come into focus for activists, in a way that sharpens what are often fuzzy discussions surrounding globalization and popular resistance. Around thirty thousand protesters joined the Mobilization for Global Justice in Washington, DC, on April 16, 2000, capping a week that began ominously. It started with a chilly and poorly attended Jubilee 2000 USA debt-relief rally on April 9 (controversially addressed by neoliberal Clinton economist Gene Sperling); a protectionist and vaguely xenophobic "No Blank Check for China" demonstration at the Capitol on April 12, which included fifteen thousand workers organized by the AFL-CIO; and dozens of other related events. Auspiciously, in contrast, the bulk of the A16/17 protesters rallied around a call for the Fund and Bank to be defunded (not reformed), just as most Seattle demonstrators had surpassed reformist leadership in relation to the World Trade Organization (WTO).This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.