Intimacy, choice, movement: these are the elements that make up the desirable lifestyle in the mainstream of affluent societies. They also undermine traditional forms of power and control, and create a web of connections between individuals all over the world, which promises to be more flexible and less restrictive than any that has existed before. But, Bill Jordan argues, our present global institutions have shut out the majority of the world's population, who are left to rely on quite different bonds - of blood, soil and faith.