I develop a critical constructivist evolutionary theory of international financial institutions and arrangements. Specifically, I analyze the role of IMF under the present globalization moves and repeated financial crises by following such a critical constructivist evolutionary theory of international financial institutions. Furthermore, the potential for reforms in the wake of the global financial crisis and the great recession is analyzed from a dialectical social constructivist viewpoint that combines the power of --sometimes conflicting--- norms and ideas with the underlying structural contradictions to produce a “critical-constructivist” analysis of the potential for change. It is shown that IMF must and can change in a direction which allows for greater national policy autonomy. It is also shown that the IMF needs complementary regional institutions of cooperation in order to create a stabilizing hybrid global financial architecture that will be more democratic and Keynesian-Kaleckian in terms of its theoretical underpinnings. Thus regional financial architectures will need to be integral parts of any new global financial architecture(GFA).The tentative steps taken towards regional cooperation in Asia since Asian financial crisis are discussed to illustrate the opportunities and challenges posed by the need to evolve towards a hybrid GFA. The opportunities and challenges arising from the current global crisis are analyzed in this context.
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