The Political Sociology of International Organisations (IOs) in the Age of Neoliberal Globalisation

Abstract

The aim of this research is to understand how international organisations (IOs) shape the politico-sociological structure of the nation-states in the age of neoliberal globalisation. IOs have become the mostdominant actors of the liberal international order in the post-war era. This article specifically focusseson the Bretton Woods (BW) institutions, namely International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank(WB), and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and their impact on the political sociology of thesovereign states. This article argues that the IOs, especially the BW institutions, eventually shape thepolitical sociology of nation-states in two ways. First, it changes the ideological structure of the country,and second it increases the authoritarian tendencies in these countries. To analyse the paradigm, thisresearch studies the Turkish case vis-à-vis its relationship with the IMF since the 1960s. On the ideological side, the BW institutions involvement in the Turkish political economy cause the rise of politicalIslam since the 1980s. For the authoritarian tendencies, the relationship with BW institutions increasedthe level of authoritarianism, and as a matter of fact, it even triggered the coup d’état in 1980.