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.