The League for Social Reconstruction (LSR) was a circle of Canadian socialist intellectuals officially formed in 1932, though it had its beginnings during a camping retreat in 1931. These academics were advocating radical social and economic reforms and political education. Industrialization, urbanization, war, and the Great Depression provoked formation of the LSR. Industrialization promoted urbanization, and the creation of elaborate bureaucratic systems, and, from the perspective of the LSR, here began the problem. The complexities of economy and society had grown, but government was infused with laissez-faire ideology and did not regulate finance or industry, or, as the LSR believed, government regulations suited private rather than public interest.