Harold Innis
Harold Adams Innis was a Canadian professor of political economy at the University of Toronto and the author of seminal works on media, communication theory, and Canadian economic history. He helped develop the staples thesis, which holds that Canada's culture, political history, and economy have been decisively influenced by the exploitation and export of a series of "staples" such as fur, fish, lumber, wheat, mined metals, and coal. The staple thesis dominated economic history in Canada from the 1930s to 1960s, and continues to be a fundamental part of the Canadian political economic tradition.
Background
- Born in
- Otterville
- Educated at
- University of ChicagoMcMaster University
- Awards
- 🏆 J. B. Tyrrell Historical Medal🏆 Person of National Historic Significance🏆 Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada🏆 honorary doctorate at the Laval University
- Doctoral Advisors
- 🎓 Chester Whitney Wright
Trending & Selected Quotes
Trending topics shown first"Industrialism implies technology and the cutting of time into precise fragments suited to the needs of the engineer and the accountant."
"Innis comments on how the invention of writing and the advancement of military techniques led to the founding of ancient empires: The sword and the pen worked together. Power was increased by concentr…"
"Modern civilization, characterized by an enormous increase in the output of mechanized knowledge with the newspaper, the book, the radio and the cinema, has produced a state of numbness, pleasure and …"
"Canada came under the sweep of the Industrial Revolution at one stroke whereas the western movement of the United States was a gradual development. There are no transcontinental railroads controlled b…"
"The significance of a basic medium to its civilization is difficult to appraise since the means of appraisal are influenced by the media, and indeed the fact of appraisal appears to be peculiar to cer…"
"The concepts of time and space reflect the significance of media to civilization. Media that emphasize time are those that are durable in character, such as parchment, clay, and stone. The heavy mater…"
Works & Publications
No works or publications documented yet.
Timeline
1894
Born
Birth1952
Died
Death
Influenced By
Thinkers whose ideas shaped Harold's philosophy
No known influences documented.
Influenced
Thinkers whose work was shaped by Harold's ideas
No influenced thinkers documented yet.
Source Attribution
Information about Harold Innis is sourced from curated knowledge bases and cross-referenced for accuracy. Influence relationships are scored by thematic overlap and historical plausibility.
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