The research of Pelin Akkaya Yerli aims to understand the role of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in the global financial architecture (GFA) for the integration of peripheral economies into global finance during the 1990s. The BIS, known as the central bank of advanced countries’ central banks, expanded its membership and incorporated new members during the 1990s. This development has been overlooked in the academic studies. The research aims to fulfil two objectives: first, to empirically understand the specific role played by the BIS for the articulation of peripheral economies into global finance and to highlight the special role the BIS played in the GFA during the 1990s. Secondly, to contribute theoretically to the study of global governance by employing a critical political economy approach. By unpacking the socialisation process of peripheral countries within the BIS, I aim to understand how economic ideas are transmitted to the periphery within the realm of central banking.
The extensive research on the BIS and the analysis of country case studies’ economic development during their increasing interaction with the BIS shows the BIS fulfils the function of socialisation of new member countries for the dissemination of a new understanding of central banking, identified with scientisation, financialisation and transnationalisation via social dynamics such as authority of central bankers and their expert knowledge; informal, technical and depoliticised functions of the BIS that exercise persuasion and peer pressure; as well as identity formation to create a sense of belonging. Country studies show that the BIS has been crucial in propagating central banking ideas to peripheral countries.
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