Wealth and Power: Philosophical Perspectives

In the new book Wealth and Power, authors explore the link between wealth and politics and ask how institutions and citizens should respond. Professor of Political Philosophy and Economic Ethics Rutger Claassen, together with researchers Michael Bennett and Huub Brouwer (Tilburg University), edited the volume.

Wealth and politics

Theories of democracy and property have often ignored the ways in which the rich attempt to convert their wealth into political power, implicitly assuming that politics is isolated from economic forces. This book brings the moral and political links between wealth and power into clear focus.

The chapters are divided into three thematic sections. Part 1 analyses wealth and politics from the perspective of various political traditions, such as liberalism, republicanism, anarchism, and Marxism. Part 2 addresses the economic sphere, and looks at the political influence of corporations, philanthropists, and commons-based organisations. Finally, Part 3 turns to the political sphere and looks at the role of political parties and constitutions, and phenomena such as corruption and lobbying