In a drastic attempt to remedy global economic woes, leaders of the G-20 summit entrusted a considerable amount of faith — and funds — in the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Rich nations pledged to triple their contributions to this international lending body, making $750 billion dollars available for loans to developing countries. The wisdom of this decision is being widely debated, due to the IMF's notorious track record of imposing economic policy restrictions on borrowing governments.
Nowhere is this concern better chronicled than in the recently published book Dignity and Defiance: Stories from Bolivia's Challenge to Globalization, edited by Jim Shultz and Melissa Crane Draper of the Democracy Center, an organization based in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The book provides an in-depth look at the ways in which Bolivian society has been a victim of, and a powerful voice against, economic exploitation on a global level.
In Bolivia — a country where the IMF's offices are located in the same building as its central bank — international lenders have left a deep and devastating mark on the society's economic and social fabric. Dignity and Defiance contributing author Nick Buxton describes how IMF-imposed "structural adjustment" policies have sent labor standards spiraling downward, destroyed key sectors of the economy including textiles and small-scale farming, and increased the tax burden on the poor while protecting corporate profits. As Buxton puts it, IMF policies have "privatized the gains" of economic development, while "state-izing the losses."
Bolivia's long history of international debt constitutes one major aspect of the country's embattled position in the world economy. But a number of other factors also contribute, including multinational corporations, destructive drug eradication policies, and high levels of corruption within the Bolivian government and abroad. Dignity and Defiance weaves these threads together with vivid detail and clarity, drawing upon personal accounts and on-the-ground research. Throughout the discussion, the authors emphasize action taken by Bolivians to counter the heavy hand of greed.
For example, in 2000 the Bolivian community of Cochabamba captured the world's attention with a widespread revolt against the privatization of their water system. Shultz, who was living in Cochabamba at the time, provides a uniquely intricate analysis of the causes and lasting effects of this "modern-day tale of a corporate Goliath slain by a humble David of the Andes." In a rich retelling of this now world-famous event, Shultz describes the emergence of Bolivian President Evo Morales during his time as a coca farmer union leader, standing down the police on the streets.
As the chapters unfold, Dignity and Defiance lays out a comprehensive, multilayered view of Bolivia's current political climate, the battles that were fought to bring the country to where it is today and the countless struggles still ongoing. At its core, the book addresses a vital question that must be faced as we form a strategy for global economic recovery. In the words of Shultz: "How can we make globalization a force for justice and equity, instead of a recipe for exploitation and abuse?" While the answer is constantly evolving, lessons taught by the Bolivian people play a key part in finding a path to dignity and prosperity for the world's poor.
Mary Tharin, a Foreign Policy In Focus contributor, is an Institute for Policy Studies intern.
