Elites and the People in Global Power Relations : The Differential Accumulation of Power

At a time of systemic crisis and eroding democratic legitimacy, this book transcends traditional state-centric and economic paradigms to reveal how the strategic interplay between elite competition and populace mobilisation defines the contemporary global order and its persistent hierarchical structures.

Elites and the People in Global Power Relations challenges the conventional boundaries of International Relations by introducing the Differential Accumulation of Power (DAP) approach. At a time of systemic crisis and eroding democratic legitimacy, this book transcends traditional state-centric and economic paradigms to reveal how the strategic interplay between elite competition and populace mobilisation defines the contemporary global order and its persistent hierarchical structures. Departing from ‘problem-solving’ theory, the work uniquely integrates the sociology of power and political economy to overcome the artificial separation between domestic and international spheres. It examines the scalar tensions between global and domestic elites as they compete for critical resources, including the state, capital, or the control of information, and reveals how governance often functions to safeguard elite accumulation rather than collective well-being. By analyzing the institutional and ideological ‘trenches’ that protect elite dominance, the book highlights the social function of theory as a catalyst for systemic transformation and a tool to reclaim democratic agency. This book is essential reading for scholars, researchers, and advanced students in International Relations, Political Science, and Sociology. It offers a radical, critical lens for those seeking to understand the rise of global authoritarianism and the persistent hierarchies that structure our world today.