From the marshall plan to global governance: Historical transformations of the OEEC/OECD, 1948 to Present

Abstract

This chapter proposes a historical framework for understanding the OEEC/OECD. After presenting key modes of governance, it provides an overview of the organization’s trajectory since 1948. The periodization we propose is linked to the mandates of successive Secretary-Generals, dates that coincided with deeper transformations of the organization’s set-up, tasks, and overall outlook: The OEEC’s focus on reconstruction and European integration (1948-1961), the OECD as the center of Atlantic cooperation and Keynesian growthmanship (1961-1969), the crisis-ridden 1970s and the OECD’s shift of economic ideology of neo-liberalism (1969-1984), the deepening of liberalization and the search for a post-Cold-War role (1984-1996), and the focus on enlargement and the management of globalization (1996-2016). The conclusion discusses the OECD as a (geo)political platform, expert think tank, and identity-generating Club.