Kari Polanyi Levitt (born June 14, 1923)
[''Biography'' (Kari Polanyi Levitt website. http://www.karipolanyilevitt.com/biography/.)] is an Austrian-born Canadian
economist
An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics.
The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
, currently Emerita Professor of Economics at McGill University, Montreal.
She is known for her work on economic development and economic sovereignty, and in particular for her 1970 book ''Silent Surrender: The Multinational Corporation in Canada''. She is also the
literary executor
The literary estate of a deceased author consists mainly of the copyright and other intellectual property rights of published works, including film rights, film, translation rights, original manuscripts of published work, unpublished or partially ...
of her father, the economic historian
Karl Polanyi
Karl Paul Polanyi (; ; 25 October 1886 – 23 April 1964)''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. 2003) vol 9. p. 554 was an Austro-Hungarian economic anthropologist, economic sociologist, and politician, best kno ...
.
Biography
Polanyi Levitt was born in Vienna, Austria and relocated to England with her father in 1933 and attended
Bedales School
Bedales School is a coeducational boarding and day public school, in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1893 by Amy Garrett Badley and John Haden Badley in reaction to the li ...
and the
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
. After graduating in 1947 she moved to Canada, and in 1950 married the Canadian historian Joseph Levitt. She received a Master's degree in Economics from the University of Toronto in 1959, and joined the Department of Economics at McGill University in 1961.
Over the next decade she undertook research projects for Statistics Canada and for the
New Democratic Party of Canada
The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...
in addition to her work at McGill. Her position paper for the NDP on foreign direct investment in Canada eventually became "Silent Surrender."
Polanyi Levitt has maintained contact with colleagues in the Caribbean throughout her career and has held several posts as a visiting professor at the University of the West Indies, as well as serving as an advisor on the creation of a system of national accounts for the
Government of Trinidad and Tobago
The politics of Trinidad and Tobago function within the framework of a unitary state regulated by a parliamentary democracy modelled on that of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, from which the country gained its independen ...
. She has written, edited and co-edited four volumes related to Caribbean economics. In 2008, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of the West Indies.
Polanyi Levitt
turned 100
A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...
on June 14, 2023.
Works
* (Ed. with Radhika Desai) ''Karl Polanyi and Twenty-First Century Capitalism'' (2020)
* ''From the Great Transformation to the Great Financialization: On Karl Polanyi and Other Essays: Kari Polanyi Levitt '' (2013)
* (With Lloyd Best) ''Essays on the Theory of Plantation Economy: A Historical And Institutional Approach to Caribbean Economic Development (book), (With Lloyd Best) '' (2009)
* '' Reclaiming Development: Independent Thought and Caribbean Community '' (2005)
* (Ed.) ''The George Beckford Papers '' (2000)
* (Ed. with 'Kenneth McRobbie) ''Karl Polanyi in Vienna '' (2000)
* ''The Life and Work of Karl Polanyi '' (1990)
* ''Silent Surrender: the Multinational Corporation in Canada'' (1970)
Notes
External links
The Karl Polanyi Institute of Political Economy- The Karl Polanyi Institute of Political Economy at Concordia University website.
Kari Polanyi Levitt website [Offline - Kari Polanyi Levitt website
archive.org.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levitt, Kari Polanyi
Canadian economists
Canadian women economists
1923 births
Living people
Canadian women centenarians
Austrian Jews
Canadian people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
Jewish Canadian social scientists
Polányi family
Austrian emigrants to the United Kingdom
British emigrants to Canada
People educated at Bedales School
Jewish centenarians