The Struggle for Accountability: World Bank, NGOs and Grassroots Movements

After a history of funding environmentally costly megaprojects, the World Bank claims at the end of the 20th century that it is trying to become a leading force for sustainable development. For more than a decade, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and grassroots movements have formed transnational coalitions to reform the World Bank and the governments that it funds. This text assesses the efforts of these groups to make the World Bank more publicly accoutable. The book ir organized into four parts. Part I describes the NGOs and grassroots movements that are the book’s central focus. Part II presents cas studies of four projects that provoked the emergence of transnational advocacy coalitions: Indonesia’s Kedung Ombo dam, the Mt. Apo geothermal plant in the Phillipines, Brazil’s Planaforo Amazon development project, and the campaign of Ecuador’s indigenous people to influence national economic policy that led to their participation in the design of a development loan. Part III looks at the origins and politics of reform in four areas of broader World Bank policy: the rights of indigenous people, involuntary resettlement, water resources, and the World Bank’s institutional reforms that are supposed to encourage public accountability. In the last section, the editors discuss issues of accountability within transnational coalitions and assess the impact of advocacy campaigns on World Bank projects and policies.