Abstract
This paper analyses the symbolic power of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) through the lens of Bourdieu’s field theory, focusing on findings from field research conducted in Argentina. The research focuses on how the IMF operates not only as a financial actor but also as a recognised authority through its symbolic power. Drawing on 26 in-depth interviews with Argentine government officials and IMF directors, the study reveals the nuanced interplay between local and global fields of power. First, fieldwork reveals unprecedented attempts by Argentina to leave the IMF (in 2004 and 2022). The protagonists confirmed the political support of the United States, which allowed Argentina to reproduce its relationship with the IMF, keeping its position in the international financial field and preventing it from leaving the game. In addition, interviews confirmed the IMF’s effective execution of symbolic violence on the borrowing country by relying on two elements of bureaucracy. The first is the pretension of presenting itself as a disinterested organisation serving a public good. Through the appeal to universality by way of “interest in disinterest”, the IMF legitimises its authority with the borrowing country. The second consists of the IMF’s ability to structure agents’ time. This monopoly of temporality dilutes Argentina’s consolidation of symbolic capital by making its achievements in the international financial field invisible. Argentina’s claims and “victories” in the international financial field (materialised through innovative reforms) are elements made invisible by specific bureaucratic mechanisms the IMF has in place due to its dominant position.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
IMF ARGENTINA BOURDIEU SYMBOLIC POWER
