2023 marks a milestone: fifty years since the publication of Small is Beautiful. E.F. Schumacher’s 1973 book has been a landmark of the modern environmental movement. Its eminently logical argument for an economics in which people and the planet truly matter has inspired countless readers — ranking it among the 100 most influential books since the Second World War, according to the U.K. Times Literary Supplement’s 1995 list.
Small is Beautiful endures not only due to its wisdom, but because of its stirring call to action. “If we want to survive and give our children a chance of survival,” Schumacher wrote, “we have to have the courage to dream.”
With a deep need for such wisdom and courage today, this 50th anniversary is our opportunity to advance solutions that build on Schumacher’s vision. Rising to this challenge, we greet the coming year in a spirit of celebration. Central to these activities will be a monthly series convening New Economic thinkers, builders and activists to share their latest insights and advance common paths forward.
“Schumacher Conversations: Envisioning the Next Fifty Years” will bring together change-makers from a range of fields whose work today is actively shaping a ‘small is beautiful’ future. Focused around key themes and fields of activism, these monthly conversations will chart actionable pathways toward a just, regenerative planet:
| January | Reimagining Economics for a Thriving World
February | Making Reparations: March | Localizing Production: April | Reallocating Land: from Market to Commons May | Activating Stagnant Capital June | Creating a Global Renewable |
July | Developing Convivial Technologies for Right LivelihoodAugust | Implementing U.B.I.: Meeting Needs Unconditionally September | Democratizing Monetary October | Rethinking Ownership & Work: November | Expanding the Frontiers December | Regenerating Local Food |
We know our movement holds solutions to today’s profound social and ecological crises, and that pioneers have been putting these ideas into practice at the local level. Now is the time to join our voices together, bringing these solutions forward to spark hope as well as courage.
We’ll share more details about the conversations in the new year. And there’s plenty more in store for 2023, as well: publications including a new Small is Beautiful group study guide, and the inauguration of an annual spring lecture, named after our builder-activist Co-founder, Robert Swann.
Please help us meet the occasion, honoring E.F. Schumacher’s legacy while casting an inspiring vision for the next fifty years, by supporting our work in 2023,