Social Dialogue and the International Financial Institutions: the Case of Eastern Europe

For decades, the International Financial Institutions (IMF, World Bank) have been viewed as the epitome of neo-liberal policies, resulting in a problematic relationship with standards of social law and social rights, as developed by the ILO. Considering recent developments, could one speak of an evolving change in the sense of new social policies of these Institutions? And what could be the role of social dialogue in this process? The author analyses these questions with a view to the post-communist European region, which has been at the very heart of IFI activities both in the glory days of the so-called Washington consensus as well as in the different international environment following the eruption of the global financial crisis.