Inaugural Robert Swann Lecture ft. Kali Akuno

April 6, 2023

On the 26th of March, the Schumacher Center hosted Kali Akuno, co-founder of Cooperation Jackson, as our inaugural Robert Swann Lecturer. Kali addressed “Shifting Focus: Organizing for an Ecosocialist Future” to a local Southern Berkshire audience.

Reallocating Land: From Market to Commons

March 30, 2023

April’s panelists are those pioneering radical forms of land tenure that challenge the private property norm. Combined, their experience with voluntary land gifting and community trusteeship of working lands spans three continents.

Local Ownership Matters

March 22, 2023

Watch “Localizing Production: Communities Supporting Industry.” One panelist summed this discussion up as “a wonderful mix of analytical, theoretical, and applicable.” We couldn’t agree more.

The Question of Scale

March 13, 2023

“Fritz’s deceptively simple but prophetic questions about scale are gaining force. Decades later, they are turning out to lie at the core not only of commercial competitive advantage, but also of appropriate technology and right livelihood — issues on which the future of the world depends.” — Amory Lovins

Restoring Livelihoods, Repairing Harms

February 21, 2023

The second in our 2023 series “Schumacher Conversations: Envisioning the Next 50 Years” brings together leading activists from Black and Indigenous communities in the U.S. and Canada to discuss reparative justice. The recording of “Making Reparations: Seeding a Just Future” is now available in on our website and YouTube channel.

Leading Reparations Locally

February 16, 2023

These three women are at the forefront of a movement to publicly reckon with legacies of injustice faced by their communities and to repair their harms. Each of their stories shares a “think global, act local” mindset—facing complex issues facing societies at large by starting from the bottom up.

Land Gifting as a Path to Reparations

February 7, 2023

Our celebration of the 50th anniversary of Small Is Beautiful continues in February with a focus on the theme of “Making Reparations: Seeding a Just Future.” The Schumacher Conversation on this topic will take place virtually Thursday, February 16th at 2 PM EST. In anticipation, we revisit two relevant touchstones from our archives.

Bold Idealism: Reflections on Small Is Beautiful

January 24, 2023

The first in our 2023 series “Schumacher Conversations: Envisioning the Next 50 Years” was a wonderful reunion of sorts. The recording of “Reimagining Economics for a Thriving World” is now available in full on our website and YouTube channel.

Reimagining Economics: January Event + Allied Organizations

January 19, 2023

The first of our 2023 Schumacher Conversations, “Reimagining Economics for a Thriving World,” is happening this Thursday! If you haven’t already, you can register via the link below. Read more about our participants and the topic on the registration page, and share this free online event widely. I didn’t discover Schumacher until my middle years, when … Continued

A Culture of Land Gifting

December 31, 2022

Bob Swann called prison his university. A conscientious objector during WWII, Bob reflected during his 30-month stay on the root causes of war, identifying them the economic system itself.