Capitalist Networks and Social Power in Australia and New Zealand

by Georgina Murray

Overview

It is often asserted that the ruling elite in Western capitalist economies now consists of liberal intellectuals and their media sympathisers. By contrast this book looks at the real elite in Australian and New Zealand society and shows that there is still a ruling class based upon economic dominance. From an analysis of corporate and public records, interviews, and other primary and secondary data, it develops a picture of networks of power that are changing but are as real as any network in the past.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138262515
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/12/2017
Series:	Corporate Social Responsibility Series
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dr Georgina Murray is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Arts, Media and Culture at Griffith University, Australia. She has taught political and social theory variously in Australia, New Zealand, China and Norway. She writes extensively and critically about New Zealand and Australian society and also has areas of research interest in feminist politics, legal professions and more recently women and mining communities.

Table of Contents

Contents: What ruling class?; The history of the Australian and New Zealand ruling classes; What do the Australian and New Zealand ruling classes look like today?; Australian networks of power; The New Zealand interlocks of power; Think tanks, corporate collectivity and the reproduction of ruling ideas; Gender and the ruling classes; Back to the future; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

'This is an insightful, lively and up-to-date analysis of the mechanisms of power in Australia and New Zealand. Georgina Murray's investigation of the ruling class in these countries is a landmark study that no one can afford to ignore.' John Scott, University of Essex, UK 'This is a thorough analysis of the development and status of the ruling classes and their networks in Australia and New Zealand. The book is an important contribution to the international research literature within new economic sociology.' Sigmund Grønmo, University of Bergen, Norway 'Georgina Murray has done us a great service with her carefully-researched mapping of top power-holders in Australia and New Zealand. As well as corporate elites and board interlocks, she studies business-financed think-tanks, and gives new insights into gender patterns at elite levels of power. This is an important study; its findings are deeply disturbing for democracy in Australia and New Zealand.'' Raewyn Connell, University of Sydney, Australia and author of Ruling Class Ruling Culture 'Georgina Murray has done some real investigating, including interviews with scores of company directors in Australia and New Zealand...This book gives us important new material to debate.' Socialist Alternative '...a wealth of data on companies, their directors, their earnings, their social networks and their attitudes...The result is a useful collage of analysis and information that will be a reference point for political economic researchers for years to come.' Journal of Australian Political Economy

From the Publisher