Wealth And Power

In Wealth and Power Duran Bell presents a key reconception of wealth as a globally-managed social resource. By observing the implications of wealth on a cross-cultural and multisocietal basis, Bell offers new insights into the implications of capital formation during a period of global accumulation. He analyzes the way in which leading centers of capitalist enterprise are transforming systems of state-managed capitalism into a global system of control. This evolving system results in severe inequalities in access to capital and, consequently, in the ability and power of individuals to survive. He provides a broader conception of the social processes that non-Western societies must undergo to participate in this phase of capitalist expansion, and explains the consequences of a hegemonic Western approach to social relations. This is essential reading for any scholar interested in the effects of wealth and power on global social processes.

Bell presents for the first time a foundational conception of wealth as a form of social resource, and explains the consequences for our understanding of social relations and social process. He demonstrates the articulation of household resources in relation to wealth, constructs a measure of the social power attributable to the holding of wealth assets, and presents an analytically powerful conception of balanced exchange. By observing the implications of wealth on a cross-cultural and multi-societal basis he shows how we can gain new insights into the implications of capital formation during this period of global accumulation.

Duran Bell is professor of economics and anthropology at the University of California, Irvine. He specializes in the dynamics of social formation, the structure of corporate groups, and marriage and marriage payments.