Synopses & Reviews
One of the major accomplishments of the Occupy movement has been to draw global attention to the massive disparity of income, wealth, and privilege concentrated in one percent of the world’s population. In
The 1% and the Rest of Us, Tim Di Muzio offers the first empirical and theoretical study of the culture, politics, built environments, and social behavior of this extremely wealthy minority. In doing so, he examines the fallout of this socio-economic order and its devastating consequences for the other ninety-nine percent of the population.
Drawing on case studies and incorporating provocative insights into the worldviews, politics, and lifestyles of the economic elite, Di Muzio reveals how the one percent is creating a world unto themselves in which the accumulation of wealth has become a powerful symbol of control over society and the natural environment. This timely and thought-provoking book offers the first in-depth analysis of the global political economy of the one percent, and, at the same time, demonstrates how unflagging resistance can continually challenge and call into question its power and dilute its influence.
Review
“I consider DiMuzio to be potentially one of the most significant emerging figures on the critical flank of the fields of international relations and global political economy.”
Synopsis
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.
A timely and innovative book that provides readers with the first global political economy of the 1%, whilst demonstrating how resistance can continue to challenge their rule.
About the Author
Tim Di Muzio is a lecturer in international relations and public policy at the University of Wollongong, where he convenes the Masters in International Studies. He is the editor of the Review of Capital as Power.
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