About Us

The Karl Polanyi Institute of Political Economy was founded in 1987 in response to the growing recognition of the relevance of Karl Polanyi's work to contemporary society. The Great Transformation, published in 1944, has long been recognized as a twentieth century classic. Karl Polanyi's far-reaching critique of the philosophical and historical foundations of economics liberalism and technological determinism opens important avenues of investigation in scholarly and policy research. The Institute is dedicated to the memory of Karl Polanyi and its principal mission is to encourage dialogue and new intellectual work inspired by his legacy. The Institute is housed in the Samuel Bronfman Building of Concordia University, Montréal, Canada.