£16.99 | $24.95
12 March 2015
Paperback
ISBN: 9781783601424
256 pages
216mm x 138mm
Politics
International Relations, Economics, Sociology and Social Policy, Politics,
Anthropology
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A Political Economy of Dominant Ownership
While the Occupy movement faces many strategic and organizational challenges,
one of its major accomplishments has been to draw global attention to the
massive disparity of income, wealth and privilege held by 1% of the population
in nations across the world. In The 1% and the Rest of Us, Tim Di Muzio
explores what it means to be part of a socio-economic order presided over by the
super-rich and their political servants.
Incorporating provocative and
original arguments about philanthropy, social wealth and the political role of
the super-rich, Di Muzio reveals how the 1% are creating a world unto themselves
in which the accumulation of ever more money is really a symbolic drive to
control society and the natural environment.
Reviews
'Tim Di Muzio debunks the radically antisocial belief that wealth is the sole
result of individual efforts and talents. His contribution is novel and
original, but it is also a significant part of a growing clamour for
change.'
Danny Dorling, author of Inequality and the 1% and Population 10
Billion
'Capital is power, wealth is social, the rich are undeserving,
growth is unsustainable. In this timely book Di Muzio takes aim not only at the
emergence of a global super rich, but also at the ideologies of wealth
generation that keep them in their place and us in ours - an indignant call to
put people and planet above profit and status.'
Amin Samman, City University
London
'This compelling and original work is a must read: it brilliantly
illuminates a world dominated by a tiny, immensely powerful ruling class who
have accumulated enormous wealth, even during the global economic crisis. It
explains why and how that has happened , who they are, and not least how such
plutocratic power can be resisted and transformed to better serve the majority
of people on the planet.'
Stephen Gill, York University, Toronto
'A
highly accessible must-read primer for anyone interested in the world's dominant
capital, its incessant drive to accumulate power, and the impact this has on our
lives and future.'
Jonathan Nitzan, co-author of Capital as Power
'Tim
Di Muzio has produced a remarkable book: remarkable for its original reading of
available evidence on the rise of the 1%; remarkable for the creative
interweaving of empirical findings and theoretical insights; and remarkable for
its politicization of the inequality issue. Di Muzio gives the Capital as Power
approach a concrete and down-to-earth bite.'
Henk Overbeek, VU University
Amsterdam
Table of Contents
Tables and figures
Introduction: Towards a Global Political Economy of
the 1%
1. The Unusual Suspects: Identifying the Global 1%
2.
Capital as Power and the 1%
3. Wealth, Money and Power
4.
Differential Consumption: The Rise of Plutonomy
5. Society vs. the
Superman Theory of Wealth
6. The Party of the 99%: Resistance and Future
Prospects
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author:
Tim Di Muzio is senior lecturer in international relations and political economy at the University of Wollongong in Australia. He currently edits the journal Review of Capital as Power.
