July 19, 2022
Is our gigantic and immensely expensive technology conducive to democratic freedom? The answer is: no, it is not. It is conducive to the development of great concentrations of economic power. At the height of his public writing and speaking, E.F. Schumacher made two tours through the United States. The first, organized in 1974 by a … Continued
May 28, 2022
An intellectual giant, a force of nature, an influencer on ethical investing— the Schumacher Center remembers Hazel Henderson, who passed away at 89.
May 27, 2022
Land and housing insecurity are challenges faced by many small farmers. Citizens working through community land trusts can create a solution to land insecurity and thereby help achieve greater regional food sovereignty and climate resiliency.
April 25, 2022
Starting in 1969, one future-thinking group pioneered new avenues in bio-technology research and design. The New Alchemy Institute in Falmouth, MA on Cape Cod was founded as a research center to pioneer organic agriculture, aquaculture, and bioshelter with minimal reliance on fossil fuels. Its work was to discover and model greener, self-sustaining systems. Founders John Todd, Nancy Jack Todd, and … Continued
April 4, 2022
Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) is one of those rare ideas which combine transformative potential with an elegant simplicity. The CSA model of funding and sustaining locally-rooted agriculture has grown exponentially around the globe over the past four decades. Since the formation of one of the first formal CSAs at Robyn Van En’s Indian Line Farm in … Continued
March 21, 2022
The local currency program of the Schumacher Center is focused on the research and development of place-based, non-profit, democratically controlled currencies that can serve as resources for the support of strong regional economies. BerkShares paper currency first issued in 2006 is an on-the-ground initiative in the Berkshires to create such a model. To respond to … Continued
March 20, 2022
“Antigone” is the last play in the Oedipus trilogy by the ancient Greek writer, Sophocles. In the drama Antigone’s brothers challenge and kill each other in battle at the gates of Thebes, both wishing to be its future ruler. Creon, their uncle, who assumed the throne upon the downfall of their father Oedipus, buries one … Continued
March 14, 2022
Some refer to Dostoyevsky’s The Brother’s Karamazovas the greatest novel ever written. It is the story of three brothers – the brilliant and cold Ivan, the dashing impetuous soldier Dmitri, and the gentle Alexey whom all love. Their profligate father is found murdered and all evidence points to Dmitri. He is apprehended at an inn … Continued
February 10, 2022
The Commoner’s Catalog for Changemaking collects vibrant examples of commoning: groups of people applying their imaginations and collective power to build new socio-economic possibilities.
December 31, 2021
Jane Jacobs never disappoints. I’ve been reading from the 2016 book Vital Little Plans: The Short Works of Jane Jacobs, a gift from a colleague, and from The Nature of Economies. The latter is a facsimile copy of Jacobs’ original type-written manuscript with handwritten corrections. It was sent to me in 1999 ahead of publication … Continued
December 25, 2021
In the Preface to the 1843 publication of A Christmas Carol, made available online courtesy of the University of North Carolina, Charles Dickens writes: I HAVE endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the … Continued
November 29, 2021
Rapid change has characterized the past few years. Climate-induced disruption, Covid variants, social upheavals, political paralysis, supply chain dysfunctions, the widening wealth gap. We barely learn to adjust to one situation as individuals, communities, or nation-states when a whole new set of circumstances emerges. At the Schumacher Center we are taking the stance of welcoming … Continued