Synopses & Reviews
Why is the World Bank so successful? How has it gained power even at moments in history when it seemed likely to fall? This pathbreaking book is the first close examination of the inner workings of the Bank, the foundations of its achievements, its propensity for intensifying the problems it intends to cure, and its remarkable ability to tame criticism and extend its own reach.
Michael Goldman takes us inside World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C., and then to Bank project sites around the globe. He explains how projects funded by the Bank really work and why community activists struggle against the World Bank and its brand of development. Goldman looks at recent ventures in areas such as the environment, human rights, and good governance and reveals howand#151;despite its poor track recordand#151;the World Bank has acquired greater authority and global power than ever before.
The book sheds new light on the World Bankand#8217;s role in increasing global inequalities and considers why it has become the central target for anti-globalization movements worldwide. For anyone concerned about globalization and social justice, Imperial Nature is essential reading.
Review
"Anyone puzzled by why globalization is increasing poverty and destitution in poor countries should read
Imperial Nature. Through detailed research Goldman shows how the secretive unaccountable workings of the World Bank aimed only at increasing its own profits and the corporations it serves are killing ecological and economic democracy and dispossessing the poor of their resources and rights."and#8212;Vandana Shiva, author of
Earth DemocracyReview
and#8220;Michael Goldmanand#8217;s brilliant book will be widely read, admired, and quoted. Many ships will sail in its wake.and#8221;and#8212;James C. Scott, Yale University
Review
"In this compelling book, Michael Goldman offers powerful new insights into how the World Bank has emerged as one of the most important sites of knowledge production in the world today.andnbsp;Yet by chronicling the practices and processes through which such knowledges become authoritativeand#8212;and how they shift under pressureand#8212;the book also contributes to the possibilities for more politically enabling alternatives."and#8212;Gillian Hart, University of California at Berkeley and author of
Disabling Globalization: Places of Power in Post-Apartheid South Africaandnbsp;andnbsp;Review
and#8220;Michael Goldmanand#8217;s brilliant book will be widely read, admired, and quoted. Many ships will sail in its wake.and#8221;and#8212;James C. Scott, Yale University
"Simply the best analysis we have of an imperial, hegemonic institution and#8216;at workand#8217;: in this case, the World Bank at work containing, colonizing, co-oping and reformulating environmentalism. Imperial Nature is well-argued, ethnographically subtle, and historically deep. Goldmanand#8217;s work will be the indispensable point of departure for all subsequent work on and#8216;greenand#8217; neo-liberalism."and#8212;James C. Scott, Yale Universityandnbsp;
Review
"We have grown accustomed to indictments of the World Bank for the devastation it hasandnbsp;wrought, but Goldman goes several steps further. Opening up the Bank and its projects to the ethnographic eye he shows not only how environmental catastrophes occur but also how the Bank responds to those catastrophes with an ever more insidious regulation, by creating new knowledges, absorbing opposition, and refabricating statesand#8212;all in the name of protecting the environment. Grassroots opposition may mount but the Bank's overarching hegemony is strengthened. A must-read for anyone interested in the role of global agencies in development."and#8212;Michael Burawoy, University of California, Berkeley
Review
"Highly original and insightful, Goldman reveals how countries are pushed backwards instead of forwards in the name ofandnbsp; 'development.'"and#8212;Naomi Klein, author of
No Logoandnbsp;
Review
"Imperial Nature offers novel insights into the Bankand#8217;s methods of valuing nature and orchestrating technologies of governance to legitimize its development regime. Rich case studies, interwoven with intriguing biographies of developers and resisters, ground this engaging account of the Bankand#8217;s unrivalled, and yet always fragile, power to produce and monopolize development knowledge."and#8212;Philip McMichael, Cornell Universityandnbsp;
Review
"[A] scholarly, incisive and damning study of the Bank."and#8212;David Moore, Journal of Agrarian Change
Review
"[A] trenchant and thorough, if somewhat unbalanced, critique of one of the prime engines of McWorld....Goldman...largely shares the militantly negative view of the World Bank espoused by the demonstrators who regularly protest the Bank and its sister institutions. Unlike many of his comrades, however, Goldman has devoted significant time and effort to researching the institution he so despises. His considered views, therefore, deserve to be taken seriously." Joshua Brook, the New Republic (read the entire New Republic review)
Synopsis
A piercing, first-hand analysis ofand#160;the World Bank, one ofand#160;the most powerful actors in today's global economy.
Synopsis
This book is a piercing, first-hand analysis of the World Bank, one of the most powerful actors in todayand#8217;s global economy. Why is the World Bank so successful? How has it gained power even at moments in its history when it seemed likely to fail? This pathbreaking book is the first close examination of the inner workings of the Bank, the foundations of its global achievements, its propensity for intensifying the problems it intends to cure, and its remarkable ability to tame criticism and extend its own reach.
About the Author
Michael Goldman is associate professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota and is affiliated with its Institute for Global Studies.
CITATION: "Anyone puzzled by why globalization is increasing poverty and destitution in poor countries should read Imperial Nature. Through detailed research Goldman shows how the secretive unaccountable workings of the World Bank aimed only at increasing its own profits and the corporations it serves are killing ecological and economic democracy and dispossessing the poor of their resources and rights."-Vandana Shiva, author of Earth Democracy
(Vandana Shiva)
CITATION: "We have grown accustomed to indictments of the World Bank for the devastation it has wrought, but Goldman goes several steps further. Opening up the Bank and its projects to the ethnographic eye he shows not only how environmental catastrophes occur but also how the Bank responds to those catastrophes with an ever more insidious regulation, by creating new knowledges, absorbing opposition, and refabricating states-all in the name of protecting the environment. Grassroots opposition may mount but the Bank's overarching hegemony is strengthened. A must-read for anyone interested in the role of global agencies in development."-Michael Burawoy, University of California, Berkeley (Michael Burawoy)
CITATION: "Highly original and insightful, Goldman reveals how countries are pushed backwards instead of forwards in the name of 'development.'"-Naomi Klein, author of No Logo
(Naomi Klein)
CITATION: "Imperial Nature offers novel insights into the Bank's methods of valuing nature and orchestrating technologies of governance to legitimize its development regime. Rich case studies, interwoven with intriguing biographies of developers and resisters, ground this engaging account of the Bank's unrivalled, and yet always fragile, power to produce and monopolize development knowledge."-Philip McMichael, Cornell University
(Philip McMichael)
CITATION: "In this compelling book, Michael Goldman offers powerful new insights into how the World Bank has emerged as one of the most important sites of knowledge production in the world today. Yet by chronicling the practices and processes through which such knowledges become authoritative-and how they shift under pressure-the book also contributes to the possibilities for more politically enabling alternatives."-Gillian Hart, University of California at Berkeley and author of Disabling Globalization: Places of Power in Post-Apartheid South Africa (Gillian Hart)
CITATION: "Michael Goldman's brilliant book will be widely read, admired, and quoted. Many ships will sail in its wake."-James C. Scott, Yale University"Simply the best analysis we have of an imperial, hegemonic institution `at work': in this case, the World Bank at work containing, colonizing, co-oping and reformulating environmentalism. Imperial Nature is well-argued, ethnographically subtle, and historically deep. Goldman's work will be the indispensable point of departure for all subsequent work on `green' neo-liberalism."-James C. Scott, Yale University
(James C. Scott)