Capitalism, Human Geography - Political Geography & Geopolitics, Imperialism, General & Miscellaneous Political Theory, World History - General & Miscellaneous, Civilization - General & Miscellaneous, Colonialism & Imperialism - General & Miscellaneous, C

The Power of Scale

Name: The Power of Scale
Author: John Bodley
ISBN: 9780765609847

by John Bodley

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Overview

Throughout history, the natural human inclination to accumulate power has led to increases in growth and scale that have amplified major social problems. In several cases, the costs of development have been borne by the many, but the benefits have been concentrated among the few. The implications are clear: Some of the world's most serious social problems -- poverty, war, pollution -- can be seen as problems of scale and power. Examining what he terms the tribal world, the pre-capitalist imperial world, and the commercially organized world, Bodley draws on history, economics, anthropology, and sociology to argue that individuals, not social classes, have been the agents of social change. This cogent and provocative book looks at how increases in scale necessarily lead to an increasingly small elite gaining disproportionate power -- ironically making democratic control more difficult to achieve and maintain.