The Yellow Brick road to people politics: how the 1997-1998 East Asian financial crisis justified a role for civil society in global finance

In 1997-1998, the East Asian financial crisis profoundly exposed the flaws embedded in the governance of global finance, and attracted much attention from civil society, which presented numerous proposals to either overhaul or amend the existing financial architecture. But what are we to make of people politics? The purpose of this article is to investigate whether the crisis spawned a role for civil society in global financial governance. This issue is important because by realising the role civil society plays, we grasp how they help to improve the highly flawed financial architecture. Ultimately, I argue the crisis justified civil society as a source of information that empowers public awareness, stems alternative perspectives, and increases the legitimacy of global financial governance.