Description
Regional development banks have long been fundamental if ignored actors in the setting of global development agendas. Their narratives shape not only development governance priorities, but also the strategies and mechanisms of attaining them. In tandem with changing global dynamics and an evolving global economy, regional development banks have shifted their agendas and reframed dominant development paradigms.
In recent years, this has included increased emphasis on private sector participation and greater reliance on for-profit actors as key partners and stakeholders in development operations. Through project advice and funding regional development banks have shaped policymaking and influenced governance at multiple scales, not just the state, impacting everyday lived experiences across the global political economy.
This panel explores the changing patterns of regional development bank financing, activities and their impacts on global development governance. It aims to problematize the dominant narratives and analyze the underlying power relations involved by investigating these actors’ prominent role in addressing various global challenges and crises including, but not limited to at multiple scales, the Great Financial Crisis, the Syrian refugee crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
