Corporate Power and Canadian Capitalism

William K Carroll author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:University of British Columbia Press

Published:1st Jan '86

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Corporate Power and Canadian Capitalism cover

Challenging standard dependency theory, William Carroll argues fromempirical evidence that Canada's financial-industrial elite havemaintained and consolidated their competitive position at the centre ofan inter-corporate network. Corporate Power and Canadian Capitalismthus acknowledges the unusually high degree to which capital isconcentrated in a relatively few giant corporations in Canada, but itdenies that these commercial interests are subordinated to Americancorporate capital.

To test the validity of this new perspective on the transformationof indigenous capitalists into a national bourgeoisie, Carroll tracesthe accumulation of capital in the largest Canadian corporations andthe institutional relations that have existed among the same firmssince World War II. Instead of selling out to foreign capital, Canadianfirms have in fact become increasingly interlocked, andCanadian-controlled firms have been and continue to be the focus ofboth the industrial and financial sectors, with foreign-controlledcompanies occupying decidedly peripheral positions.

From this interpretative position, Canada's development is seenas markedly similar to that of other advanced capitalist countries,culminating in consolidation of control under an elite accompanied bothby penetration of foreign economies by domestic financial capitalistsand a concomitant penetration of the domestic economy by foreigncapital.

The book is an excellent critical assessment of Canadian dependency theory - rethinking of Canadian dependency and providing empirical data in support of the renewed conceptualization ... This solid empirical work should be of great interest to various social scientists including sociologists. -- Raj Gandhi * Canadian Book Review Annual *
The strength of this book lies in elaborating the internal organisation and processes of capitalist development within Canada from a perspective that looks outside it, if not in terms of dependency and underdevelopment. It is a most valuable contribution. -- Peter R. Sinclair * Labour/Le Travail *

ISBN: 9780774802468

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 620g

302 pages