The 1% and the Rest of Us: 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.

Table of Contents:
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

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. 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.

Review :
Distills the concepts of capitalism, political economy, finance, inequality, the profligacy of the 1%-ers, and much more in morally coherent chunks of need-to-know information. It is a superb book. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.