E. F. Schumacher was a profound and influential thinker and economist who, at a time of unlimited economic growth, challenged this ideology and proposed an approach to economics ‘as if people mattered’. He was one of the first to recognise the impossibility of continuous growth in a finite world, and warned against the world’s increasing dependence on oil. He was a key figure in the development of the environmental movement and was adamantly opposed to what he saw as violent solutions to economic problems, arguing against nuclear energy and advocating human-scale technology and organic cultivation.
Schumacher’s particular genius was to bring together the theoretical and the practical. He set up the Intermediate Technology Development Group (now Practical Action) to provide small-scale technology for developing countries, and his people-centred approach to development has now been adopted throughout the world.
This fascinating biography traces Schumacher’s life: from his early years in Germany and his move to England and internment during the Second World War, through to his later years, with the publication of Small is Beautiful and the worldwide fame that resulted. It shows how his thinking and beliefs changed and evolved as his rigorous and questioning search for truth caused him to reflect on the events of his life and embark on a spiritual journey which was to change him as an economist and as a person.
Foreword by Robert McCrum
Prologue
1 Grown in German Soil
2 First Taste of England
3 Oxford
4 In New York One Walks on Air
5 Hitler
6 Muschi
7 London
8 A Change in Lifestyles
9 World Improvement Plans
10 Marx v. God
11 Oxford Again
12 Seeds of Change
13 An Englishman in Germany
14 The Final Break
15 Caterham
16 Learning How to Think
17 The Breakthrough
18 ‘I am a Buddhist’
19 The National Coal Board
20 Year of Crisis
21 A Fruitful Partnership
22 Small Talk
23 Travel and Challenge
24 ‘Retirement’
25 Public Property
Notes
“This is a sweet biography of a great man, written by his eldest daughter. It is an enjoyable read.”
- Reforesting Scotland - Autumn/Winter 2011
Barbara Wood
Barbara Wood, Schumacher’s eldest daughter, is a writer with a background in economics, history and theology. She has worked for the Intermediate Technology Development Group (founded by her father) and the Voluntary Services Overseas Assocation.
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