How did the World Bank Engage in the Neoliberalization of Global Capitalism? Financial, Political, Social, and Intellectual Aspects

Abstract This article analyses the World Bank as an agent of the neoliberalization of global capitalism, with an emphasis on its functions as a lender, adviser and technical advisor to governments, civil society agent, and producer of economic research during the period from 1980 to 2023. Based on primary sources from the institution itself and extensive specialized literature, the article shows how the World Bank’s activities have become increasingly comprehensive, politicized, and intrusive, but with variations in form, content, and intensity in its political agenda and operational practices. It concludes that, in a global environment marked by major economic and political changes, greater contestation of supposedly universal economic recipes, and uncertainties about the future, the World Bank has remained faithful to the neoliberal political paradigm, but it has started to act in a more pragmatic, flexible, discreet way that depends on the circumstances and priorities of the borrowers (especially the larger ones).