Consultants and the Marketization of Safeguard Expertise: Authority and Knowledge Production in International Development Governance

This article investigates the role of consultants in shaping social and environmental safeguards (SES) within international organizations, focusing on how their expertise is produced, legitimized, and operationalized in global governance. Drawing on the concept of epistemic injustice, the study examines how the privatization and marketization of expertise reinforce structural hierarchies, privileging Western, technocratic knowledge while marginalizing local and Indigenous perspectives. Using a Bourdieusian framework, the analysis situates SES consultants within the broader "field" of global governance. It explores how their career trajectories, professional networks, and methodological practices interact with institutional norms to define legitimate expertise. Through a mixed-methods approach combining ethnographic interviews and computational analysis, this research highlights the dual nature of SES expertise: as both a mechanism of power perpetuating inequality and a site of potential resistance fostering inclusivity. The findings contribute to debates in International Relations on knowledge production, global governance, and the intersection of power and expertise.