A third of a century ago, E. F. Schumacher rang out a timely warning against the idolatry of giantism with his book Small Is Beautiful. Schumacher, a highly respected economist and adviser to third-world governments, broke ranks with the accepted wisdom of his peers to warn of impending calamity if rampant consumerism, technological dynamism, and economic expansionism were not checked by human and environmental considerations. Joseph Pearce revisits Schumacher’s arguments and examines the multifarious ways in which Schumacher’s ideas themselves still matter. Faced though we are with fearful new technological possibilities and the continued centralization of power in large governmental and economic structures, there is still the possibility of pursuing a saner and more sustainable vision for humanity. Bigger is not always best, Pearce reminds us, and small is still beautiful. Humanity was lurching blindly in the wrong direction, argued Schumacher. Its obsessive pursuit of wealth would not, as so many believed, ultimately lead to utopia but more probably to catastrophe. Schumacher's greatest achievement was the fusion of ancient wisdom and modern economics in a language that encapsulated contemporary doubts and fears about the industrialized world. The wisdom of the ages, the perennial truths that have guided humanity throughout its history, serves as a constant reminder to each new generation of the limits to human ambition. But if this wisdom is a warning, it is also a battle cry. Schumacher saw that we needed to relearn the beauty of smallness, of human-scale technology and environments.

An influential economist and profound thinker, E. F. Schumacher is widely known for his bestselling book Small is Beautiful: a study of economics as if people mattered. In his later years he became an iconic figure who played a significant part in the development of the modern environmental movement. Small is Beautiful in the 21st Century traces his legacy over the years, helping us move towards practical solutions to our interrelated global crises. In particular, it describes how several flourishing organisations, some large and some small, have remained closely linked with his ideas and work, and have since become associated as the Schumacher Circle. The book both illuminates Schumacher's thinking and shows the ways in which each of us can help to build a more kind, just and ecologically sustainable society.

The author of the world wide best-seller, Small Is Beautiful, now tackles the subject of Man, the World, and the Meaning of Living. Schumacher writes about man's relation to the world. man has obligations -- to other men, to the earth, to progress and technology, but most importantly himself. If man can fulfill these obligations, then and only then can he enjoy a real relationship with the world, then and only then can he know the meaning of living. Schumacher says we need maps: a "map of knowledge" and a "map of living." The concern of the mapmaker--in this instance, Schumacher--is to find for everything it's proper place. Things out of place tend to get lost; they become invisible and there proper places end to be filled by other things that ought not be there at all and therefore serve to mislead. A Guide for the Perplexed teaches us to be our own map makers. This constantly surprising, always stimulating book will be welcomed by a large audience, including the many new fans who believe strongly in what Schumacher has to say.

Small is beautiful, and these 15 real farm plans show that small-scale farmers can have big-time success. Compact Farms is an illustrated guide for anyone dreaming of starting, expanding, or perfecting a profitable farming enterprise on five acres or less. The farm plans explain how to harness an area’s water supply, orientation, and geography in order to maximize efficiency and productivity while minimizing effort. Profiles of well-known farmers such as Eliot Coleman and Jean-Martin Fortier show that farming on a small scale in any region, in both urban and rural settings, can provide enough income to turn the endeavor from hobby to career. These real-life plans and down-and-dirty advice will equip you with everything you need to actually realize your farm dreams.

Why are there more poor people with small bank accounts than rich people with big bank accounts? Why is the small almost always more numerous than the big in the world? Empirical examinations of real-life data overwhelmingly confirm the existence of such uneven size proportions in favor of the small. There are more small planets and stars than big ones in the cosmos. There are more small molecules than big molecules in the chemical world. There are more small families with few children than big families with many children. In geological data, there are more small rivers than big rivers, and there are more harmless small earthquakes than devastating big ones. There are by far many more small creatures than big creatures in the biological world. There are only about two million big whales swimming the oceans, yet there are over 300 billion small birds flying the sky. Tiny little ants are even more abundant, with estimates of over 100 trillions of them walking the earth In number theory as well, there are more small prime numbers than big prime numbers for integers. In census data, there are more villages than towns, more towns than cities, and more cities than metropolises. In history, there were more small wars with low death toll than horrific big wars with high death toll such as WWII. The vast list of topics & disciplines obeying this quantitative law of nature confirms the fact that the phenomenon is nearly universal. This book discusses in detail several real-life case studies; presents three distinct explanations for the phenomenon; and numerically quantifies the small is beautiful phenomenon in order to obtain an exact measure indicating by how much the relatively small is more numerous than the relatively big.

This book tackles a basic moral question: "Can a Christian work for a corporation?" Michael Novak's answer? "Yes!"

This book examines the relationship between state size and the formation and maintenance of democratic political systems. Using a cross-national, multiple case study of The Gambia in West Africa, and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, in combination with a quantitative data set on all the nations in the world, the study examines the effects of smallness, when measured by population size, on a number of variables including the probability of becoming and remaining democratic, access to information, political instability and political violence. The dissertation argues that the small scale social structure which is prevalent in small states directly affects the social interaction of individuals in these states through the multiple-role relationships created as a consequence; and indirectly affects the political and economic systems of these states through the impact of such social networks on political interaction, etc. The case studies examine the effects of smallness on two states that, aside from being small and democratic, share few background characteristics. It is argued that small state size acts as an enabling environment for democratization, increasing the likelihood that such states will become and remain democratic, as occurred in Trinidad and Tobago. The case of The Gambia illustrates the limitations of smallness to overcome other obstacles to democratization including economic, social, and systemic limitations. The quantitative analysis establishes a significant statistical relationship between small state size, when measured by population, and the formation and maintenance of political democracy, and an increased likelihood of political violence, when measured by political riots and deaths by political violence. The analysis concludes with a discussion of the implications of such findings, including transferability through the application of targeted decentralization programs.