New Power Elite

"A "remake" of C. Wright Mills' The Power Elite, this book charts patterns of elite domination amid paradigmatic changes in the structuring of U.S. social institutions and political life since the postwar period that lay bare the essentially corrupt and authoritarian nature of neoliberal capitalism and the power elites behind it. Driven by an inexhaustible pursuit of profits and wealth accumulation, power elites of the last half century conceived of and imposed a new form of global capitalism that has positioned the "free market" as an ultimate political and cultural authority. In the process, they have suppressed policies and rules, social movements, and political organizations that might impede profitability and exacted an unspeakable toll on human andplanetary life. Similar to Mills, The New Power Elite elucidates the means through which today's elites accumulate wealth and power, including the subordination of military and governmental systems, media and culture, and labor, finance, and production to "market imperatives." It departs from Mills, however, in accounting for major transformations in the political geography of corporations and labor, the rise of finance capital, and role of U.S. imperialism in the structuring of global capitalism. And, unlike Mills, the book argues that while the American State, mass media, and cultural institutions can still operate as a sites of contestation, political, military, and cultural institutions today should not be considered as autonomous from market forces,as their principal function is to serve the interests of capital and operate on its behalf"--
Revisiting C. Wright Mills' classic, an analysis of power structures in the neoliberal era and America's drift toward authoritarianism.In 1956, radical icon C. Wright Mills wrote The Power Elite, a scathing critique of elite power in the United States that has become a classic for generations of nonconformists and students of social and political inequality. With rising rates of inequality and social stratification, Mills' work is now more relevant than ever, revealing a need for a fresh examination of American elitism and the nature of centralized power. In The New Power Elite, Heather Gautney takes up the problem of concentrated political, economic, and military power in America that Mills addressed in his original text and echoes his outrage over the injustices and ruin brought by today's elites. Drawing from years of experience at the highest levels of government and in the entertainment industry, Gautney examines the dynamics of elite power from the postwar period to today and grounds her analysis in political economy, rather than in institutional authority, as Mills did. In doing so, she covers diverse, yet interconnected centers of elite power, from the US State and military apparatus, to Wall Street and billionaires, to celebrities and mass media. Gautney also accounts for changes in global capitalism over the last forty years, arguing that neoliberalism and the centering of the market in political and social life has ushered in ever more extreme forms of violence and exploitation, and a drift toward authoritarianism. A contemporary companion to Mills' work through a fresh critique of elites for the new millennium, The New Power Elite offers a comprehensive look at the structure of American power and its tethers around the world.