Why Protest the World Bank and IMF?

The Anti-capitalist Convergence is organizing against the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (Bank and Fund) because of their roles in enforcing and expanding global capitalism and imperialism. In return for much needed money from the Bank and Fund, developing countries must follow prescribed economic and social programs. Through the undemocratic one dollar-one vote system, the U.S., U.K., Japan, Germany, France, Canada, and Italy -- the "Group of 7," hold over 40% of the power in these institutions, allowing them to dictate the policies of the Global South. These policies often directly contradict local laws and the express will of the public. This has led to massive protests and general strikes, which we hear little about in the US.

Under the rubric of cutting government spending, Bank and Fund policies mandate cuts in social programs, such as transportation and health care, cutting subsidies, like those that keep food affordable, and privatizing national industries such as electricity or water services. These policies put and keep people in developing countries in poverty. Women in particular are affected when social services are cut because they must find ways to provide health care, education and healthy food and water for their families.

In order to make countries "business friendly" the institutions tell countries that they must keep their environmental, labor and health and safety standards minimal. These lowered barriers create what is known as a "global race to the bottom" where companies move around the world looking for the place they can make the biggest profit by exploiting the environment and people the most.

The Bank and Fund promote export-oriented policies which transfer money and economic activity away from sustainable farming and production of goods and services needed by the society to support export crops such as flowers and luxury items (which can't be eaten!). The policies mandate the importation of cheap crops from agribusinesses (located primarily in the US) undermining local farming. In effect these polices force people - primarily people of color and indigenous people - to move from the rural to urban sector allowing corporations to take land and natural resources. As sustainable farming is made unviable people are pushed into the wage economy where, because of their position in the South, their labor is undervalued and exploited.

This oppression and exploitation of people and the environment is a built-in part of the capitalist system which relies on global hierarchies on gender, race and nationality to keep those in power, in power. These hierarchies lead to increased wealth for those at the top at the expense of the lives of those at the bottom.

Not only do these policies hurt people and the environment but THEY DO NOT WORK TO PROMOTE GROWTH. Rather than generate money for local economies these policies generate money for transnational corporations. Think about it! The Bank and Fund mandate that government funds be taken away from education, infrastructure and community and social development and instead put towards paying off old loans.

The loans which countries are paying off now are secondary loans, meaning they were taken out to pay off previous loans because the policies did not produce growth the first time around. In fact, most countries now have much more debt than when they first accepted Bank and Fund "assistance." The backwards policies which the institutions enforce create a vicious cycle of dependence on them and by association on developed countries.

With their increasing power in the US political system, corporations are now pushing these policies on communities, in particular communities of color, in the United States. For decades the Bank and Fund have mandated the privatization of public health care in developing countries - this same push is now occurring in the US. Here in Washington DC, the federally appointed control board privatized our only hospital against the unanimous opposition of the elected City Council and general public. Not surprisingly, the primary backers of privatization in the US and developing countries are the same, the corporate controlled US federal government.

Members of the Anti-capitalist Convergence have united to organize against the Bank and Fund with the belief that the simple reform or even abolishment of these institutions is not sufficient. Rather, we are working to abolish the capitalist system. Though we have various alternative visions we see that the present system is driven by an exploitative logic that sees human beings as capital, ecosystems as resources, and culture as simply a commodity. We reject the idea that the world is only valuable in terms of profit, competition and efficiency. Within the varying visions for a new society autonomy, non-hierarchical structures and cooperation are the ideal.

- DC Anti-Capitalist Convergence

World Bank and IMF

Anarchist Briefing Center on the World Bank

Local Issues

Neoliberalism in Washington, DC

Mobilization for Global Justice demands of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank

We demand that the World Bank and International Monetary Fund:

-- Open all World Bank and IMF meetings to the media and the public.

-- Cancel all impoverished country debt to the World Bank and IMF, using the institutions' own resources.

-- End all World Bank and IMF policies that hinder people's access to food, clean water, shelter, health care, education, and right to organize. (Such "structural adjustment" policies include user fees, privatization, and economic austerity programs.)

-- Stop all World Bank support for socially and environmentally destructive projects such as oil, gas, and mining activities, and all support for projects such as dams that include forced relocation of people.

We furthermore demand that the United States government, the largest shareholder and most influential government in the World Bank and IMF, adopt the above demands and work vigorously to compel the World Bank and IMF to implement them.

Mobilization for Global Justice