Repositioning in global governance: horizontal and vertical shifts amid pliable neoliberalism

James H. Mittelman

Third World Quarterly, 2016, vol. 37, issue 4, 665-681

Abstract: This exploratory case study of repositioning focuses on changing relations among actors and the structures of global governance. It examines interactions between formal institutions, particularly the IMF, and informal networks of authority manifested in global forums, such as the G7/G8 and G20. The core argument is that global repositioning may be best understood in terms of increasing pliability in neoliberal globalisation. Pliable neoliberalism encompasses elasticity in practices and the stretching of spatial and institutional networks, plus pushback in the global North and South. It has two axes, one lateral and the other longitudinal. The former constitutes changes in global governance institutions; the latter turns on the resilience of neoliberalism and challenges to it. Horizontal shifts in global governance, as in changes in membership organisations, are made possible by verticality – hierarchies in social power relations. The evidence is drawn from documentary research and semi-structured discussions with global governance officials in Africa, Europe and North America.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2015.1108160

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