E.Con: How the Internet Undermines Democracy

Computers & Technology

Gutstein, Donald

Web Development & Design

Stoddart Pub.

Margaret Thatcher transformed British political life forever. So did Ronald Reagan in the United States. Now Canada has experienced a similar, dramatic shift to a new kind of politics, which author Donald Gutstein terms Harperism. Among its key tenets: 
<ul>
<li>A weakened labour movement--and preferably the disappearance of unions--will contribute to Canada's economic prosperity</li>
 <li>Cutting back government scientific research and data collection will improve public policy-making</li>
 <li>Eliminating First Nations reserves by converting them to private property will improve conditions of life for aboriginal peoples</li>
 <li>Inequality of incomes and wealth is a good thing--and Canada needs more of it</li>
</ul>
 These and other essential elements of Harperism flow from neo-liberal economic theories propounded by the Austrian economist Friedrich von Hayek and his U.S. disciples. They inspired Thatcherism and Reaganism. Stephen Harper has taken this neo-liberalism much further in many key areas. As Donald Gutstein shows, Harper has successfully used a strategy of incremental change coupled with denial of the underlying neo-liberal analysis that explains these hard-to-understand measures.
 The success of Harperism is no accident. Donald Gutstein documents the links between the politicians, think tanks, journalists, academics, and researchers who nurture and promote each other's neo-liberal ideas. They do so using funds provided by ultra-rich U.S. donors, by Canadian billionaires like Peter Munk, and by many big corporations--all of whom stand to gain from the ideas and policies the Harperites develop and push. 
 This book casts new light on the last ten years of Canadian politics. It documents the challenges that Harperism--with or without Stephen Harper--will continue to offer to the many Canadians who do not share this pro-market world view.

Harperism: How Stephen Harper and his think tank colleagues have transformed Canada

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

Lorimer

In fall 2015, the newly elected Trudeau government endorsed the Paris Agreement and promised to tackle global warming. In 2016, it released a major report which set out a national energy strategy embracing clean growth, technological innovation and carbon pricing. Rather than putting in place tough measures to achieve the Paris targets, however, the government reframed global warming as a market opportunity for Canada's clean technology sector.The Big Stall traces the origins of the government's climate change plan back to the energy sector itself — in particular Big Oil. It shows how, in the last fifteen years, Big Oil has infiltrated provincial and federal governments, academia, media and the non-profit sector to sway government and public opinion on the realities of climate change and what needs to be done about it.Working both behind the scenes and in high-profile networks, Canada's energy companies moved the debate away from discussion of the measures required to create a zero-carbon world and towards market-based solutions that will cut carbon dioxide emissions — but not enough to prevent severe climate impacts. This is how Big Oil and think tanks unraveled the Kyoto Protocol, and how Rachel Notley came to deliver the Business Council of Canada's energy plan. Donald Gutstein explains how and why the door has been left wide open for oil companies to determine their own futures in Canada, and to go on drilling new wells, building new oil sands plants and constructing new pipelines.This book offers the background information readers need to challenge politicians claiming they are taking meaningful action on global warming.

The Big Stall: How big oil and think tanks are blocking action on climate change in Canada

Business & Money

Business Culture

Published Under the Garamond Imprint North Americans now live in a highly complex media environment where newspapers are still immensely important vehicles for democratic communication. No other mass medium offers the same combined possibilities for accessibility, in-depth analysis, diversity of views, and sustained reflection on important political and economic issues. But do newspapers in Canada really report an adequate range of views and issues? The authors argue that as significant as what is reported are the stories that are not reported, or "buried." What are the filters and blind spots that determine what gets into print... and what doesn't? The authors believe that journalism's most important tasks in a democratic society include holding those in power accountable, and giving voice even to those without wealth or political influence. The Missing News shows us that Canadians have reason to be concerned.

The Missing News: Filters and Blind Spots in Canada's Press

Gruneau, Richard

Hackett, Robert A.

Social Sciences

University of Toronto Press

Citizens often complain that their politicians are greedy, corrupt, double-talking, and unqualifiedbut the complaint that perhaps rouses the most anger is the most fundamental: the charge that politicians aren’t listening to their constituency. In Not a Conspiracy Theory, Gutstein posits that they may not be. In a deft treatise on the modern political machine, Gutstein describes the prolonged propaganda campaigns mounted by big business to change our minds on fundamental issues of social life. Arguing that politicians are more swayed by the corporate sector than we’d like to believe, Gutstein illuminates a troubling trend in modern politics, making this book a must-read for students of democracy, activists of any stripe, and citizens who want to wrest control of their government from the clutches of the business world.

Not a Conspiracy Theory: How Business Propaganda Hijacks Democracy

Key Porter Books

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Books by Gutstein, Donald