“The watchdog is siding with the thieves”

Failing neoliberal policies and successful derisking in the Global South

Bibliographic Data

ID20501239
AuthorsAshar Saleem (Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Pakistan), Farzad Rafi Khan (0000-0001-7957-4602, Prince Mohammed Bin Salman College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, corresponding author), Pablo Martin de Holan (HEC Paris)
Year2025
Volume32
Issue3
Pages321-344
Publication date2025-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueOrganization (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1350-5084 • E-ISSN: 1461-7323
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/13505084231207698
OpenAlexW4388572334
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited37

In this study, we examine how a State in the Global South implemented neoliberal policies aiming at derisking private investments whose outcomes were opposite to expectations. We focus on the strategy, tactics, and maneuvers used by the State to defend these policies formally. Through an in-depth case study of the Pakistani State’s privatization efforts in its electricity sector, we confirm that the State seeks to derisk investments but also to derisk neoliberal policies in general by assuming full responsibility for their failure. This acceptance of responsibility preserves the symbolic capital of the specific policies but also of the neoliberal project in general regardless of outcomes. Our findings add texture to the notion of derisking in the Global South and document the transfer of symbolic capital to multilateral lending organizations from the State. We observe the State is not only an enabler and enforcer of neoliberal policies but also their exonerator when failures appear

Economics · Enabling · Political economy · Political science · Sociology · Foucault, Power, and Ethics · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · International Development and Aid · Public Administration

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