IFIs: Undermining Human Rights and State Stability

Abstract

Human Rights and Structural Adjustment will likely be one of the most important works on the critical policy juncture of human rights and development. Abouharb and Cingranelli's rigorous, comprehensive analysis of the effects of World Bank and IMF structural adjustment agreements skillfully blends qualitative and quantitative methods to persuasively demonstrate the harmful effect of these agreements on a broad range of human rights. The book draws upon and expands our theoretical understanding of three literatures within the broader international relations literature (human rights, development, and international political economy). Concomitantly, the work strongly illuminates broader normative concerns and specific policy implications in regard to the imposition of neoliberal economic theory in the developing world, which lead the authors to propose a human rights-based approach to development. The authors’ careful attention in the initial three chapters to setting out the institutional contexts of the IMF and the World Bank and the literatures of both economic development and human rights, makes the material accessible to broader audience than just scholars and practitioners in economic development, possibly including upper-level undergraduates. Their treatment of statistical methods and results is equally accessible.