Activities > Histories and Futures of Global Governance Initiative

In June of 2024, Kenyan president William Ruto published a piece in the International Monetary Fund’s flagship magazine headlined “A Consensus is Forming for IMF Reform.” The essay argued in favor of several widely shared demands: changes to the Fund’s lending protocols, more relief for debt distressed countries, and better Global South representation in IMF governance. Yet by the time Ruto’s essay was published, Nairobi was engulfed in protest against an IMF-approved tax increase, with tens of thousands of Kenyans refusing the imposition of austerity programs. One could be forgiven a strong sense of déjà vu: more austerity measures, more street protests, more calls for reform. Haven’t we been here before?

In fact, this is far from the first time that a “consensus” has called for the reform of the institutions that govern the global economy. But today, the world faces an unprecedented polycrisis, as economic shocks come not just from technological change, debt overhangs, and interstate conflict but also climate change and global pandemics. While these crises make reform all the more urgent, historians have shown that questions of redistribution and representation have animated debates over global economic governance from its earliest days. Seventy years after Bandung; more than fifty years after the introduction of Special Drawing Rights; nearly thirty years after a worldwide movement for a debt Jubilee; and amid today’s renewed calls for a New International Economic Order—how should we understand the apparently perpetual push for reform? What were the technical, epistemological, and political forces that motivated, or impeded, reform efforts in the past? And how should we assess these many historical cycles of reformism and their results for the global governance system we have today?

The History and Political Economy Project will convene an series of discussions with experts in both historical and contemporary reform efforts. We’re interested in what we can learn from each other: what should historians learn from the concerns of today’s policymakers and reform advocates? And what should reformers take away from longer-term historical analyses? Together, we will assess how the lessons of past reform efforts can and should guide current campaigns, by uncovering how past reforms were proposed, negotiated, implemented, and, often, defeated; evaluating the outcomes of prior reforms for both the institutions and their member countries; and drawing lessons for today’s renewed calls for change. With IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva now calling for a “21st century multilateralism,” we will ask: how and why does history matter for the future of global governance reform? Are we doomed to repetition, or can an engagement with the past help us break the cycle of perpetual reformism?

Our conversations will bring together academics, policymakers, and reform advocates for focused discussion around topics like governance, multilateralism and international law; commodities, industry and international trade; finance, debt and the international monetary system; climate, energy and natural resources; and contention, democracy, and political legitimacy. This initiative is supported by the Open Society Foundation Education and Ideas Collaborative.

• Webinar 1: Can Institutional Reforms be Made Meaningful? Friday February 21, 2024
  Featuring Adriana Abdenur, Richard Kozul-Wright, Jamie Martin, and Quinn Slobodian

• Webinar 2: Reform Perspectives from the Developing World

• Webinar 3: Activism and Advocacy: What Lessons?

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