E.F.
CHUMACHER
Sreelekshmi .A. Pillai
S1 M.Arch
2019 - 2021
Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People
Mattered is a collection of essays by German born
British economist E. F Schumaker.
The phrase "Small Is Beautiful" was often used to term
that small technologies are believed to empower
people more in contrast with phrases such as "bigger is
better".
First published in 1973, Small Is Beautiful brought
Schumacher's critiques of Western economics to a
wider audience during the 1973 energy crisis and
emergence of globalization.
The Times Literary Supplement ranked Small Is
Beautiful among the 100 most influential books
published since World War 2.
The book summarizes the Economic world of the early 1970s from the
author’s perspective. In the chapter "The Problem of Production",
Schumacher argues that the modern economy is unsustainable.
Natural resources (like fossil fuels) are treated as expendable income
when in fact they should be treated as capital since they are non
renewable, and thus leading to eventual depletion.
He further argues that nature's tolerance to pollution is limited as
well.
He says that government effort must be concentrated on sustainable
development . Relatively minor improvements, for example such as
technology transfer to Third World countries will not solve the
underlying problem of an unsustainable economy.
Schumacher's philosophy is one of "enoughness", appreciating both
human needs and limitations, and appropriate use of technology. It grew
out of his study of village-based economics which he later termed
“Buddhist economics” which is the subject of the book's fourth chapter.
Schumacher found Buddhist economics which were not in accordance with
Western economics. Buddhist economics “tries to maximize human
satisfactions by the optimal pattern of consumption,” whereas Western
economics “tries to maximize consumption by the optimal pattern of
productive effort” .
In Buddhist economics, a high standard of living depends not on
maximizing consumption but on minimizing consumption while western
economics depends on scarce materials to produce and consume material
goods. Buddhist economics, on the other hand, views the wasteful use of
natural resources as a violent act against the environment, the society,
and the living world. Buddhist economics decreases the depletion of scare
resources.
What makes Schumacher’s work remarkable is the philosophical
themes woven around the low-cost small-scale technology as an
alternative to high-cost large-scale technology. The first section
outlines the essential ideas of Schumacher on orthodox economics,
industrial production, materialism, social aspects of technology,
Buddhist economics, Western technology in the less developed
countries and intermediate technology.
Schumacher’s greatest contribution has been on the role of
intermediate technology for the development of the less developed
countries. The Western “trickle-down” theory was not leading to the
full employment of poor people in the less developed countries, most
of whom lived in rural areas. The primary effort should be to
maximize output per man in the urban area and work opportunities
for the unemployed and underemployed in the rural area.
Broadly, there are two dominant meanings for alternative small-scale
technology, one for industrial countries and the other for the less
developed countries.
In industrial countries, alternative small-scale technology is
understood as one that does not harm the environment, whereas in
the less developed countries, it is understood as one that provides
employment to ordinary people.
Schumacher suggested that the less developed countries should not
imitate Western technological development based on the trickle-
down approach; instead the less developed countries should embrace
an alternative path of development that is less expensive and thus
within reach of ordinary people but more productive than indigenous
technology.
According to Schumacher, the causes for the crisis were :
1. Modern technology: Inhuman modernization and excessive
mechanization that kills creativity.
2. Impact on environment: Producers and consumers do not care
about the environment.
3. Depletion of Non-renewable resources: Natural resources are
finite, so economic growth cannot be infinite.
According to Schumaker, normative and ethical aspects are
neglected. Western economics gives importance to:
1.Profits: Large scale production. Higher profits, with lower account
of production. But large scale production leads to Giantism – with
massive depletion and more pollution.
2.Economic growth is important, but it does not matter how the
economy grows.
3.Dominance of large scale monopolies and oligopolies, not perfect
competition.
1. Small scale production: Large scale production is the cause of all
environmental and social problems. Small scale is manageable and
human. Therefore “Small is Beautiful”.
2. Human approach: Technology should be non- violent and creative. i.e
“Technology with a Human Face.”
3. Environmental Concern: All stakeholders should show responsibility
towards environmental protection.
4. Intermediate Technology: based on renewable resources,
technology, labour intensive, and creative.
Intermediate technology provides:
• Local employment.
• Lower capital requirements.
• More creative.
• Is cheaper.
• Based on local resources, not imported resources,
• No foreign dependence.
• Local people are interested in protecting their own environment.
Schumacher says:
“Man is small, and so we should produce on a small scale. “Small is
Beautiful”.
Gandhi said:
“The poor of the world can be helped not by mass production, but by
production by the masses.”
