This two-year case study investigates the operations of the rule of law in the context of the Chad oil and pipeline project, a World Bank-sponsored experiment with a high degree of social programming. The Chad pipeline project is founded on the assumption that when subjected to certain rules and procedures an extractive industry can serve as the foundation for national development, poverty reduction, and improvement in living conditions in one of the world's poorest countries. The rules and processes of the pipeline project were modeled after the World Bank's social and environmental standards for application in Chad by a consortium of oil companies led by ExxonMobil. The rule appears under the rubrics of an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) and the Petroleum Sector Management Capacity-Building Project (CBP). At stake in the Chad experiment therefore is the notion that the institutions of market and property can constitute the basis for equitable development. The overall aim of the study is to determine how the rule of law and market-oriented mechanisms mobilize interests and identities under neo-liberalism to justify equity and justice outcomes. The study has two specific aims. The first is to examine whether the principles and mechanisms that underpin the pipeline project cohere with the fundamental rights and constitutional principles theoretically associated with the rule of law. Our central concern here is with the utility and function of the rule of law. This is measured by the perceived necessity of agents to comply based on the actual benefits of compliance and not merely on formal legal stipulations. Through these investigations, we hope to determine the degree to which the institutions of market and property create predictability, transparency, and therefore good governance. The second aim is examine how the World Bank, the oil consortium, the state, and citizens understand and incorporate the rule of law in their activities. It allows us to determine how the law and market-oriented legal systems mobilize interests and identities to justify specific distributions of outcomes as equity and justice, and how different social entities benefit from the law and its mechanisms. This investigation allows us to explore the conditions under which the World Bank, the oil consortium, and the state may be a dependable force for justice under the rule of law. The study is based on a combination of in-depth interviews and field surveys of households, workers, civil society organizations, and litigants about the benefit from the rule of law. In sum, the Chad experiment represents the World Bank's most recent development strategy for resource-rich poor countries. The World Bank has pointed to the pipeline project as evidence that it is pursuing pro-poor public and corporate governance; effective social and environmental policies; and respect for human rights. The outcome of the "Chad experiment" will have implications for development theory and practice, and most particularly the operations of the rule of law. By studying this experiment, we expect to contribute to knowledge about the connections between neo-liberal formulations of the rule of law and development. We intend to communicate our findings to scholars, citizens (including national and transnational NGOs), and policy-makers at all levels of public life who are actively involved in development issues.
