Harold Innis: a Canadian nationalist

Focus: A Geographical Appreciation of Harold A. Innis

“…Forstaplesdo notculminate in someequilibrium state of industrialism, but for lnnis produce continual 'cyclonic' disequilibrium, one where Canada is caught in a 'staples trap' and, as a consequence, remains on the global semi-periphery (Drache 1982). By starting in this way, lnnis immediately moves away from two central concerns of mainstream, neoclassical economics: first, he shifts attention to the primary sector, and the very different production market conditions found there compared to the secondary sector (the template for neoclassical theory); and second, because of the very nature of primary production and its market conditions he necessarily rejects neoclassical equilibrium analysis.…”

Community-company relationships in forest-dependent communities in northern BC: Assessing the local, sectoral, and theoretical implications.

“…While British and American scholars have developed a number of theories addressing resource development and extraction, their translation into the Canadian context is problematic because of our unique history and geographies Marchak, 1983). The following section reviews the staples approach to development in Canada (Weaver & Gunton, 1986) and the resulting core-periphery relations and structural rigidities (Bradbury, 1979b;Drache, 1991;Reed, 2003b). Each of these themes will be related to the nature of, and implications for, forestry-dependent communities.…”

“…While many economic theories predicted that staples extraction would propel economies towards maturation brought about by development of higher-order industries and independence -a neoclassical interpretation of the theoryInnis countered that diversification and maturity was neither automatic, nor assured (Marchak, 1983). Indeed, Innis's brand of staples theory has been labelled pessimistic because he saw the institutional framework associated with staples production as posing long-term barriers to development (Drache, 1991).…”

“…have not (Drache, 1991). Markey et al, 2005, p. 55 Truncated economic development is also linked to the predominance of foreign corporate ownership in Canada (Britton & Gilmour, 1978).…”

“…Within the periphery, specialization in extraction and primary manufacturing results in weak forward, backward, and final demand linkages4 as these activities (especially forward and backward linkages) tend to be concentrated within urban cores (Hayter, 2000a). Over time, economic growth does not automatically result in development (Drache, 1991). Research and development activities involving the creation of new technologies and products happen in other places.…”