Giulio Piumelli

Brief Description of the Thesis:

In 1989, the British economist John Williamson coined the expression Washington Consensus to define a set of economic policies shared by the US Treasury Department, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank (all Washington DC-based institutions), deemed necessary to solve the economic instability of the Central and Latin American countries affected by the so-called “debt crisis”. Williamson’s list well formalized the cardinal principles of the neoliberal (an abused but conceptually fundamental epithet) economic paradigm, which were becoming increasingly dominant as the 20th century drew to a close. My research seeks to investigate the process of the “making” and “implementation” of the Washington Consensus, to determine whether this was the result of a shared and deliberate project within the US establishment or, rather, an outcome driven more by the needs and contingencies of the time. The research will delve into the interactions between US government members, especially those from the Reagan administration, officials from international financial organization and institutions, and representatives from indebted countries (e.g., Poland, Hungary, Mexico, Argentina, etc.). In doing so it will attempt to unravel the complex power dynamics – not always entirely favorable to lenders – between debtors and creditors. Furthermore, given the global scope of the Consensus the research will also aim to move beyond the established spatial interpretive frameworks of historiography (East/West, North/South) to seize the systemic changes in the international economic system during the 1980s.

Education

- From 2024: Ph.D. candidate in History, cotutelle Sciences Po - Scuola Superiore Meridionale

- From 2023: Ph.D. candidate in Global History and Governance, Scuola Superiore Meridionale

- 2020-2023: Msc degree in International Relations and European Studies, Università di Trento

- 2017-2020: Bsc degree in International Relations and European Studies, Università di Firenze