All the Roads to Market: The Soviet Union, China and the World Bank’s Narrative of Capitalism

Abstract

This essay explores the consequences of postcommunist economic reform for narratives about capitalism, using the example of World Bank discourse. It shows how the World Bank’s capitalism narrative has changed to reflect post-Soviet reform complications and the growing Sino–(post-)Soviet contrast. While the capitalism narrative struggles to show that there is one (global) capitalism or market economy model, reform anomalies and the Sino–(post-)Soviet contrast turn the model into a complex political–economic hybrid. Simultaneously, the interplay between the capitalism narrative and reform anomalies highlights the World Bank’s relevance for neoliberal ideational production.