Escape from the staple trap : Canadian political economy after left nationalism / Paul Kellogg.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kellogg, Paul, 1955- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economic development--Political aspects--Canada.

Economic development--Political aspects.

Canada--Economic conditions.

Canada.

Economic conditions.

Canada--Foreign economic relations.

International economic relations.

Canada--Economic policy.

Economic policy.

Economic history.

Physical Description:

xxiv, 275 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 2015.

Summary:

"From fur and fish to oil and minerals, Canadian development has often been understood through its relationship to export staples. This understanding, argues Paul Kellogg, has led many political economists to assume that Canadian economic development has followed a path similar to those of staple-exporting economies in the Global South, ignoring a more fundamental fact: as an advanced capitalist economy, Canada sits in the core of the world system, not on the periphery or semi-periphery. In Escape from the Staple Trap, Kellogg challenges statistical and historical analyses that present Canada as weak and disempowered, lacking sovereignty and economic independence. A powerful critique of the dominant trend in Canadian political economy since the 1970s, Escape from the Staple Trap offers an important new framework for understanding the distinctive features of Canadian political economy."-- From publisher's website.

Contents:

1 Introducing the Argument 3

Political Economy's Staple Trap 3

Toronto and Detroit 3

Three Moments of Left Nationalism 4

The staple trap 8

The pull of the global South 11

The Case for Political Economy 14

A difficult engagement 15

Sovereignty and the Canada Question 18

Military Parasitism 19

2 One of These Things Is Not Like the Others 23

The Semi-periphery and Twenty-first-Century Left Nationalism 23

World Systems Theory 23

Canada and Mexico compared 26

Semi-peripheral, semi-proletarian 32

Building on Wallerstein I 35

Of outsiders and insiders 39

Building on Wallerstein II 41

Bringing politics back in 45

Conclusion: An Unsustainable Framework 49

3 From Levitt to Watkins to You 57

Dependency Theory and the Classic Moment of Left Nationalism 57

Kari Levitt 58

Liberal Party nationalism 60

The trout in the milk: Canada and neoliberal global governance 62

Deindustrialization 65

Non-resident Ownership 74

Conclusion: Return to Akwesasne 84

4 Something Rings Hollow 86

Non-resident Corporate Acquisitions and Foreign Direct Investment 86

Who's Hollowin' Who? 86

The Uses and Misuses of FDI 95

The Rise or Decline of the United States 105

5 Of Nails and Needles 110

The Profile of Canada's External Trade 110

Trade and Canadian Political Economy 113

Glen Williams 114

The Prima Facie Empirical Case 117

The bitumen sands effect 123

The Auto Pact effect 127

Fabricated Materials, Inedible 135

The Dominion Bureau of Statistics: Fabricated statistics, incredible 137

Conclusion 139

6 Canada as a Principal Economy 141

The Free Trade Moment of Left Nationalism 141

From NAFTA to the FTAA 141

The Other Macdonald Report 145

Unemployment 148

Output per capita 159

Productivity and international competitiveness 161

Conclusion: An Empirical iée fixe 163

7 A Very Canadian Bourgeoisie 167

The Canadian Capitalist Class and "Subcontracted" Sovereignty 167

Entrepreneurship 167

A Comprador Elite? 169

An Independent Canadian Capitalist Class 175

Subcontracted Sovereignty 185

8 Escape from the Staple Trap 189

The Home-Market Origins of Canadian Capitalism 189

Harold Innis and the Staple Approach 189

The Home-Market Alternative 191

Paralyzed by custom? 198

Manufacturing in Canada in Global Perspective 201

Conclusion 206

Conclusion 211

Political Economy Outside the Trap 211

Toronto and Detroit Revisited 219.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780802099419

0802099416

9780802096548

0802096549

OCLC:

898087016