The power of scale : a global history approach / John H. Bodley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bodley, John H. (John Harry), 1942-

Series:

Sources and studies in world history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

World history.

History, Modern.

Civilization, Modern.

Imperialism--History.

Imperialism.

History.

Capitalism--History.

Capitalism.

Geopolitics--History.

Geopolitics.

Physical Description:

xviii, 297 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Armonk, N.Y. : M.E. Sharpe, [2003]

Summary:

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. Drawing on history, economics, anthropology, and sociology, the author argues 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.

Contents:

1. Introduction: Imperia and the Power of Scale 3

Imperia, Social Power, and Scale 4

Three Cultural Worlds: Tribal, Imperial, and Commercial 6

Great Cultural Transformations 8

Quality of Life in the Tribal World 13

The Irreducible Minimum in the Tribal World 15

Political Imperia and Conditional Rights in the Imperial World 18

The Commercial World and Capitalism 22

2. Imperia in Three Worlds 28

Domestic Imperia in the Amazon Rain Forest: The Ashaninka 28

Circles of Kings: Political Imperia in Southeast Asian Kingdoms 33

The Thai Kingdom, 1782-1932 37

Modern Thai and Balinese Imperia 44

Commercial Imperia: The United States, 1998 45

3. Why Scale Matters 54

Power Laws, Energy, and the Disproportions of Scale 55

The Illusion of Evolutionary Progress 61

Culture, Biology, and the Problem of Size 64

Human Community, Society, and Scale 66

Scale Limits in the Tribal World: Australian Bands 67

Scale Limits to Power in the Tribal World: The Ashaninka 70

The Power of Scale in the Urbanization Process 71

Bureaucracy and Domination 74

Scale, Imperia, and Growth Trajectories 76

4. The Political Elite Take Power 79

Crossing the Great Divide from Tribal to Imperial Worlds 81

Village Headman to Divine King in Southeast Asia 84

Beyond 500: Scalar Stress and Urban Growth 87

Elite Payoff: Mates, Servants, and Palaces 91

Strategies of Domination in the Ancient Imperial World 96

The Romans: Conquerors and Slaves in a Legionary Economy 101

5. The Rise of European Commercial Elites 104

Urban Growth and the Origins of Capitalism, 1100-1600 105

Medieval City-States and the Medici Imperium 108

Crisis as Opportunity: England, 1500-1688 110

Landed and Monied Interests in the London Financial Revolution, 1600-1900 115

British Colonialism: Merchant Capitalists Transform the World 117

The Business of Government in the Fiscal-Military State 123

Capitalist Manufacturers: Canals, Pots, Guns, and Lobbies 125

The Power of Scale in Britain, A.D. 1066-2000 127

A Tale of Three Families: Grosvenors, Rothschilds, and Bonapartes 131

Commercial Elites in Control: Summary and Assessment 135

6. The Power Elite in Action: America's Commercial Revolution, 1787-1945 137

Founding Fathers and the Constitution 138

The Rise of Big Business 143

Urban Elites and American Inequality: Boston, New York, and Philadelphia 148

J.J. Astor, Real Estate, and the Fur Empire 150

The Rail Empires, 1840-1870 152

American Financial Imperia 155

Rockefeller Imperium and the Fossil Fuel Revolution 157

Factory Farms and the American Food System 158

The Triumph of Cars over Rails 160

The Millionaire Imperia: Super-Elite Lifestyles 164

7. Counter-Imperia: Imagining Alternative Worlds 170

Tribals Against the State 171

Plato's Republic and Medieval Utopias 174

The English Revolution: Regicides, Levelers, and Luddites 178

Thomas Paine and the Rights of Man 182

Anarchists, Owenites, and Fourerists 185

Did Early Industrial Growth Benefit the English Poor? 188

Marxists and Totalitarianists 192

American Populists and Progressives Challenge Big Business 194

8. Utopian Capitalists: Constructing and Reconstructing the World Order, 1945-2000 199

Constructing Progressivist Global Institutions: The UN, IMF, and World Bank 201

Prospects for America: The Rockefeller Panel Reports 204

Ending Poverty Through Globalization 208

Feeding the Commercial World 218

The Triumph of Neoliberal Economic Theory: Wealth = Growth = Wealth 221

Elite Power in the Global Market Society 229

Wriston, Citicorp, and the Globalization of Finance Capital 232

9. Beyond 2000: An Optimal-Scale Commercial World 235

Scale Thresholds and the Good Life 236

Small Scale in Colonial New England 241

The Growth-Maximizing Nation: How America Overshot the Optimum 242

Imperia and the Scale of Business: When Is Big Too Big? 244

Market Scale and Social Power in American Urban Places 252

The Indigenous People Challenge 258.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-281) and index.

ISBN:

0765609843

OCLC:

49627712