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Joining Empire

Joining Empire

The Political Economy of the New Canadian Foreign Policy

by Jerome Klassen

Published by: University of Toronto Press

Imprint: University of Toronto Press

22 figures

Digital download
9781442666436
Published: September 2014

Digital download
9781442666443
Published: September 2014

Description
Contents
Authors
Praise
Awards

A fresh assessment of the neoliberal political economy behind Canadian foreign policy from Afghanistan to Haiti, Joining Empire establishes Jerome Klassen as one of the most astute analysts of contemporary Canadian foreign policy and its relationship to US global power. Using empirical data on production, trade, investment, profits, and foreign ownership in Canada, as well as a new analysis of the overlap among the boards of directors of the top 250 firms in Canada and the top 500 firms worldwide, Klassen argues that it is the increasing integration of Canadian businesses into the global economy that drives Canada’s new, increasingly aggressive, foreign policy.

Using government documents, think tank studies, media reports, and interviews with business leaders from across Canada, Klassen outlines recent systematic changes in Canadian diplomatic and military policy and connects them with the rise of a new transnational capitalist class. Joining Empire is sure to become a classic of Canadian political economy.

Introduction: Political Economy and the New Canadian Foreign Policy

Part I: Theory and Method

1. Understanding Empire: Theories of International Political Economy

Part II: American Power and Continental Integration

2. Hegemonic Liberalism: The Political Economy of US Primacy

3. Continental Neoliberalism and the Canadian Corporate Elite

Part III: Canadian Capital and Transnational Neoliberalism

4. Global Exploitation: The Internationalization of Canadian Capital

5. Transnational Class Formation: Globalization and the Canadian Corporate Network

Part IV: The State and Foreign Policy

6. Armoured Neoliberalism: The Power Bloc and the New Imperial State

7. One of the Big Boys: Canada in Afghanistan and Haiti

Conclusion: Canada and Empire: The Counter-Consensus

Jerome Klassen is a Research Fellow at the MIT Center for International Studies.

‘This is political economy scholarship at its best… This study’s importance is not just Canada-centric; its theoretical framework and methodology are relevant to scholars researching foreign policy in other Western nation-states…. Highly recommended.’
~A.F. Johnson, Choice Magazine vol 52:11:2015

‘We now have a theoretically sophisticated and up-to-date account of how Canadian foreign and security policy expresses the class interests of Canadian capital.’
~Bill Burgess, Labour/Le Travail, vol 76: Fall 2015

‘Considering the dominance of Neoliberalism, this contribution could not be timelier… Klassen’s greatest theoretical contribution is how he ties together the vectors of Empire to provide a well-rounded view of capitalism.’
~David Plazek, American Review of Canadian Studies, February 2016

‘Joining Empire is perhaps the most lucid and empirically grounded analysis of the formation of the transnationalized fraction of the Canadian corporate elite and the development of an imperial power bloc to date… This book is a major contribution and deserves to be widely read.’
~Neil Burron, Canadian Journal of Sociology, vol 41:01:2016

"Klassen’s book makes an important and worthwhile contribution to contemporary political science."
~Paul Kellog, Canadian Journal of Political Science Vol 51:2 2018

Outstanding Academic Titles awarded by CHOICE - Winner
Errol Sharp Award awarded by the Society for Socialist Studies (2015) - Winner