Episode 06: How Eurocentrism in economics locks women and the Global South in crisis with Bhumika Muchhala
Our latest episode of Invisible Handcuffs I was delighted to be joined by Bhumika Muchhala, Political Economist and Senior Advisor at Third World Network as well as Part-Time Faculty at The New School. Our discussion centres on the problem of Eurocentrism in economics, and its impact on a region where neoliberal economics is arguably doing most damage: the Global South. Eurocentrism refers to the global dominance of western ideas and ideologies in economics and by default — in our international trade and financial institutions. In our discussion Bhumika argues that while the violence and looting of political colonisation in the Global South (home to 80-88% of the world’s population, spanning central and southern America, Africa, central and south-east Asia) may be over — it has been replaced by ‘economic colonisation’. We talked about one institution in particular — the IMF — with Bhumika explaining this is a ‘kitchen table’ issue in the Global South, even though it is countries in the Global North — especially the US and Europe — that hold most sway, with the lion’s share of voting rights and powers to appoint its leadership. This Euroecentric dominance shows up in IMF loans conditions couched in terms like ‘market liberalisation’ and ‘fiscal discipline’ — whose lineage can be traced back to neoliberal economists like Milton Friedman and the Chicago School. These conditions force austerity on countries already struggling to provide basic services, while demanding ‘investibility’ like cuts to labour protections, corporate taxes and environmental red tape. In short, they underpin extraction and ongoing ‘unequal exchange’ — the transfer of cheap resources and labour from South to North thanks to permanently weakened currencies and a need to sell resources for foreign currency to pay back their loans. As Bhumika explains, this is then compounded by western credit rating agencies who downgrade countries as soon as public spending rises, even if the cause stems from elsewhere (like Covid-related healthcare spending). This drives up the cost of debt and puts countries at risk of default, forcing them back to the IMF. And thus, the vicious debt-austerity cycle repeats. The numbers on debt stress in the Global South today that we discuss are truly shocking with debt repayments in many countries now vastly outstripping spending on health, education, public infrastructure or welfare — let alone climate. And yet that’s even not the worst part. Because according to Bhumika, also a decolonial feminist scholar, the real ‘shock absorbers’ of IMF- and market-imposed austerity are women, with Bhumika also explaining the ‘triple jeopardy’ of diminished access to essential services, loss of livelihoods, and increased unpaid work and time poverty. We end by talking about the need not just for economic justice but epimestic justice. This means enabling a plurality of though schools both in economic thinking and in knowledge creation more broadly. Bhumika ends by giving her view on some possible issues around which we might be able to unite, across Global North and South. This episode marks the first in a set that will delve more deeply into the ways in which the neoliberal status quo in economics is upheld and reinforced. You can stay tuned for more episodes by subscribing at www.invisiblehandcuffs.com.
Invisible Handcuffs: Unchaining EconomicsKaty Shields

For our latest episode of Invisible Handcuffs I was honoured to be joined by Bhumika Muchhala, Political Economist and Senior Advisor at Third World Network as well as Part-Time Faculty at The New School.

Our discussion centres on the problem of Eurocentrism in economics, and its impact on a region where neoliberal economics is arguably doing most damage: the Global South.

Eurocentrism refers to the global dominance of western ideas and ideologies in economics and by default — in our international trade and financial institutions.

In our discussion Bhumika argues that while the violence and looting of political colonisation in the Global South (home to 80-88% of the world’s population, spanning central and southern America, Africa, central and south-east Asia) may be over — it has been replaced by 'economic colonisation'.

We talked about one institution in particular — the IMF — with Bhumika explaining this is a ‘kitchen table’ issue in the Global South, even though it is countries in the Global North — especially the US and Europe — that hold most sway, with the lion’s share of voting rights and powers to appoint its leadership.

This Euroecentric dominance shows up in IMF loans conditions couched in terms like ‘market liberalisation’ and ‘fiscal discipline’ — whose lineage can be traced back to neoliberal economists like Milton Friedman and the Chicago School.

These conditions force austerity on countries already struggling to provide basic services, while demanding ‘investibility’ like cuts to labour protections, corporate taxes and environmental red tape.

In short, they underpin extraction and ongoing ‘unequal exchange’ — the transfer of cheap resources and labour from South to North thanks to permanently weakened currencies and a need to sell resources for foreign currency to pay back their loans.

As Bhumika explains, this is then compounded by western credit rating agencies who downgrade countries as soon as public spending rises, even if the cause stems from elsewhere (like Covid-related healthcare spending). This drives up the cost of debt and puts countries at risk of default, forcing them back to the IMF. And thus, the vicious debt-austerity cycle repeats.

The numbers on debt stress in the Global South today that we discuss are truly shocking with debt repayments in many countries now vastly outstripping spending on health, education, public infrastructure or welfare — let alone climate.

And yet that’s even not the worst part. Because according to Bhumika, also a decolonial feminist scholar, the real ‘shock absorbers’ of IMF- and market-imposed austerity are women, with Bhumika also explaining the 'triple jeopardy' of diminished access to essential services, loss of livelihoods, and increased unpaid work and time poverty.

We end by talking about the need not just for economic justice but epimestic justice. This means enabling a plurality of though schools both in economic thinking and in knowledge creation more broadly.

Bhumika ends by giving her view on some possible issues around which we might be able to unite, across Global North and South.

This episode marks the first in a set that will delve more deeply into the ways in which the neoliberal status quo in economics is upheld and reinforced.

You can stay tuned for more episodes by subscribing here or via your favourite podcast platform. You can also watch this episode and subscribe to our series on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/jOOwJ_Ub1WY


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Show notes:
(1)  Muchhala, Bhumika. (2026). "Obligations Beyond Borders? Linking Monetary Tightening in the US to Gendered Debt Crisis in Pakistan Through Extraterritorial Obligations." Feminist Economics, 32(2), 89–108. https://doi.org/10.1080/13545701.2026.2646413

(2) Muchhala, Bhumika. (2026). "Situating Sovereign Debt Within the Climate–Debt Cycle: The colonial origins, financial hierarchy and epistemic roots of debt in the Global South." In: Bell, K. et al (eds) The Sage Handbook of Eco-Social Policy and Politics, edited by Karen Bell, et al., SAGE Publications: London. https://us2.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/the-sage-handbook-of-eco-social-policy-and-politics/book288440#contents

(3) Muchhala, Bhumika. (2022). "Gendered Austerity and Embodied Debt in Ecuador: Channels through which women absorb and resist the shocks of public budget cuts." Gender & Development vol. 30, no. 1-2, pp. 283-309. Taylor & Francis Online, https://doi.org/10.1080/13552074.2022.207199         ---     and related:  Muchhala, Bhumika. (2023). A Feminist Social Contract Rooted in Fiscal Justice (Third World Network briefing paper)

(4) Muchhala, Bhumika. (2024). "A Feminist and Decolonial Global Green New Deal: Principles, Paradigms and Systemic Transformations." Righting the Economy: A Global Green New Deal, Agenda Publishing, pp. 171-184. 2) 

(5) Co-authored: Dempsey, Jessica, et al. (2022). "Biodiversity Targets Will Not Be Met Without Debt and Tax Justice." Nature Ecology & Evolution, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 237-39. Nature, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01619-5. 

(6) Fukuda-Parr, Sakiko, and Bhumika Muchhala. (2020). "The Southern Origins of Sustainable Development Goals: Ideas, actors, aspirations." World Development, vol. 126, 104706. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104706. 

(7) Muchhala, Bhumika. (2022). "The Structural Power of the State-Finance Nexus: Systemic delinking for the right to development." Development, vol. 65, no. 2, pp. 124–135. Palgrave Macmillan, DOI:10.1057/s41301-022-00343-2. 

(8) Muchhala, Bhumika. (2025). "Examining the Features of Economic Colonialism Through Decoloniality and Dependency: Epistemic singularity and unequal power in global finance." In: Sanchez, P.Z.M.U., Imbong, R.A.D., Chew, M.Mt., Schöpf, C.M. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook on Decoloniality in Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-2336-5_12

(9) Bandung Woods (Progressive International, January 2023)

(10) Muchhala, Bhumika, Miranda, Patricia, Syed, Maria and Jorge Luna. (2026). Dancing to their Tune: Credit rating agencies, sovereign risk and financing conditions in the Global South (Third World Network and Latin American Network on Debt and Development briefing paper, June 2026)    & related:  Muchhala, Bhumika and Maria Syed (2026). “Policy Profile 5.2: Curbing the dominance of private credit ratings agencies through multilateral credit rating." In The Roadmap for Eradicating Poverty Beyond Growth: Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter. New Economies Eradicating Poverty, June 2026.