ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to answer the question of what kind of conceptual framework can enable one, first, to contextualize and to unpack the World Bank’s engagement with a client government around policy change, second, to explain the implementation of and challenges to the reforms in practice that have been promoted by the World Bank (and adopted by a national government), and, third, to bring these first two issues into conversation to show how one impacts the other (and doesn’t). The answer to this question is based on a synthesis of five theoretical approaches. These approaches are rooted in (a) political economy (specifically the “critical,” “international,” and “cultural” variants), (b) the literature on mechanisms of influence in global governance, (c) realist evaluation, (d) systems thinking, and (e) anthropology. In short, the first two of these sets the macro framework and dynamics within which the work and influence of the World Bank is understood; the third (realist evaluation) directs attention to the logic of the reforms that will be unpacked; and the fourth (systems theory) and fifth (anthropology) help to flesh out the dimensions of interest when focusing on the context of implementation that is highlighted but not fully explained by realist evaluation. The essential characteristics of each of these approaches are discussed and integrated.
