Tied affectedness? Grassroots resistance and the World Bank

Jokubauskaite, G. (2018) Tied affectedness? Grassroots resistance and the World Bank. Third World Thematics: A TWQ Journal, 3(5-6), pp. 703-724. (doi: 10.1080/23802014.2018.1595125)

Abstract

This paper argues that there can be no category of ‘affected people’ without a decision-making process that triggers affectedness in the first place. In that sense, affectedness is a category that is by default, although not irreversibly, ‘tied’ to a certain institutional context. In this paper, I examine such ‘tied’ quality of affectedness by focusing on the benefits and dangers of the affectedness paradigm to grassroots organisations in the context of World Bank projects. Whilst in principle the category of ‘affected people’ seems to empower the grassroots, this article argues that the danger of institutional co-optation in this context is also high. The World Bank and its borrowers have full discretion to include, but also to exclude, people from this category. Therefore, the voices of grassroots organisations relying on this paradigm can be instrumentalised and distorted. This article suggests that mediation can help to ‘untie’ affectedness from the top-down institutional discourse, in order to create space for a more balanced dialogue between resistance groups and decision-makers.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Jokubauskaite, Dr Giedre
• Authors: Jokubauskaite, G.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Law
• Journal Name: Third World Thematics: A TWQ Journal
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• ISSN: 2380-2014
• ISSN (Online): 2379-9978
• Published Online: 31 March 2019
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2019 Global South Ltd
• First Published: First published in Third World Thematics: A TWQ Journal 3(5-6):703-724
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher