As a society, we have no firm basis of belief in any meta-economic values, and when there is no such belief the economic calculus takes over… The task of our generation, I have no doubt, is one of metaphysical reconstruction…
— E.F. Schumacher, Small is Beautiful
Marking the 50th anniversary of the publication of Small is Beautiful over the past year has given us much to celebrate.
Our monthly “Schumacher Conversations” series has exceeded expectations. These online panels have convened leading change-makers around topics like worker ownership, alternative technology, land access and more.
These Conversations are bringing transformative solutions to today’s social and ecological crises into classrooms, offices, and reading groups, free of charge. Between live attendees and our video recordings, these in-depth Conversations have so far been accessed over 8,000 times (and counting).
This year, we were also pleased to bring remarkable speakers to Great Barrington— our first in-person gatherings since 2019. Community builders Alfa Demmellash and Alex Forrester, co-founders of Jersey City-based Rising Tide Capital, delivered an insightful Annual Lecture worthy of the Small is Beautiful milestone. A recording of “The Greatest Migration: Beloved Community as Ecological Civilization” is now available online.
And, Bayo Akomolafe’s kaleidoscopic “Why We Need Post-Activism Today” has been clipped, translated and dispersed across social media so widely since April that it defies quantification — perhaps fittingly so.
These fresh voices achieve a rare alchemy that helps explain the appeal. In advancing the key tools of a New Economics, they do not separate practical concepts from deeper, soul-searching questions. By delving into innovative ideas with their full human capacities, their words alight the heart as well as the mind.
In the tradition of Schumacher himself, they do not merely advocate, but awaken.
In our forthcoming “Study Guide to Small is Beautiful 50 Years On,” author David Boyle evaluates where the movement has come since Fritz startled the Western imagination, helping catalyze the wave of ‘70s’ environmental activism.
Schumacher’s vision has been advanced considerably, and the need for systemic change is clearer than ever. So why, David asks, does it remain unfulfilled? His conclusion: by and large, Fritz’ heirs have shied from placing their proposals within a deeper context of “metaphysical reconstruction.”
This is a crucial reminder, and one we embrace as we step into an uncertain future.
Ushering in a new system broadly enough, rapidly enough to meet the crises of our time calls for far more than technical solutionism. It calls for profound cultural awakening — a “new image of humanity” within our rapidly-shifting environment.
This is the challenge we set ourselves for the year ahead: to shine as brightly for transformative change as did Schumacher in his last years. To champion practical action without shying from the metaphysical. To be a beacon for all who strive to enshrine humanity’s best, most universal values in the economic realm.
The task Schumacher assigned to one generation is being handed to the next.
Your donation will help us meet this pivotal moment.
Do join us,
Schumacher Center Staff
