Studies in political economy are now at a crossroads. The revival of political economy as an important area of research in Canada began in the early 1970s with the publication of Kari Levitt's Silent Surrender. In 1976 it was launched in earnest by the first session on Canadian political economy at the meetings of the Canadian Learned Societies in Quebec City. While many academics now classify themselves as political economists, not until The New Canadian Political Economy has there been any attempt to systematically survey, review, and assess the scores of books and articles which can now be considered as belonging in this field.

Wallace Clement and Glen Williams have ensured that all areas of the field are discussed, with chapters on the state, resources, industrialization, the provinces and regions, labour, gender, culture, Quebec, race and ethnicity, the legal system, capital formation, and Canada's position in the international sphere of political economy.

The editors' introduction defines the field of political economy in the 1980s by comparing it to traditional studies of Innis and others and evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the new approach. The New Canadian Political Economy suggests important new directions for continued study.

Contributors include: Frances Abele and Daiva Stasiulis, Gregory Albo and Jane Jenson, Isabella Bakker, Amy Bartholomew and Susan Boyd, Janine Brodie, Neil Bradford, Wallace Clement, William D. Coleman, Paul Phillips, Ted Magder, Mel Watkins, and Glen Williams.