Transnational Capitalist Class

The Transnational Capitalist Class provides theoretically informed empirical research to explain the process of globalization from the viewpoint of the corporations themselves. Through personal interviews with executives and managers from over eighty Fortune Global 500 corporations, Sklair demonstrates how globalization works from the perspective of those who control and oppose the major globalizing corporations and their allies in government and the media. Sklair's unique approach brings a fresh perspective to what has become a key debate of our time.

"It will henceforth be difficult to theorize globalization without this rich storehouse of information about the global corporations and their role in the current world system." Fredric Jameson, Duke University "This is a pioneering and innovative study of an aspect of globalization that is rarely treated in any systematic way. Through a judicious mix of conceptual argument and empirical analysis, Leslie Sklair's stimulating and highly readable book lays bare the anatomy of the increasingly significant transnational capitalist class. Highly recommended." Peter Dicken, University of Manchester "This book provides a stocktaking of the drivers of globalization worldwide, emphasizing the coherence of the process but also its contradictions, particularly those associated with economic inequality and environmental stress." Journal of Australian Political Economy "The entire process of globalization is fraught with conflicts and new alliances between groups, be they based in corporations, government or social movements. In the end, Sklair does a superb job of depicting which group is dominant in this process and how it vigorously defends its interests from attacks against the culture-ideology of consumerism." International Sociology "In making his case, Sklair takes a strong position to critique TNC and he pulls no punches. For this reason, he has given us a very important standpoint, along with abundant evidence to sustain his position. But whatever one's position, this book will have a major place in the academic debates." Lauren Langman, Loyola University of Chicago, Theory and Society 31, 2002

Leslie Sklair teaches sociology, and is responsible for the Ph.D. Research Programme in Sociology, at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is the author of Assembling for Development (second edition, 1993) and Sociology of the Global System (second edition, 1995), and the editor of Capitalism and Development (1994).