Transcending traditional categories of “right”
and “left,” decentralism has been the logical
meeting place for those in many fields of endeavor who
believe that preserving human scale and encouraging
a spirit of community are essential for the human spirit
to thrive. In a world afflicted with giantism in its
social, economic, and political institutions, decentralism
is often mistakenly identified as radical, but it is
in fact based on many traditional values. Decentralists
are a diverse group, but they share a common belief
in restoring community self-reliance and bringing economic
and social activities back to a more human scale.
Over the centuries, human scale has had many eloquent
advocates, ranging from Lao Tzu and Aristotle to Kropotkin
and Jefferson, Gandhi and Chesterton. Fritz Schumacher
introduced the concept of human scale to mainstream
industrial society in the book Small Is Beautiful:
Economics As If People Mattered. In it he called
for an economy of permanence, based on human values
and sustainable uses of natural resources, and this
marked a cultural shift in our thinking about economics.
Schumacher’s ideas rekindled a modern interest
in the human scale, decentralist approach, one which
has been intensified by today’s social, economic,
and environmental crises. The modern environmental movement
has awakened an interest in the decentralized approach
as issues of energy use, resource consumption, bioregional
preservation gain urgency. Intensified globalization
has brought forth the need for cultural and community
preservation and appropriate technologies. Many visionaries
and activists in a variety of fields have opted to develop
small-scale, community-based solutions to these problems.
Together with the writings of Leopold Kohr, farmer Wendell
Berry, economist Ralph Borsodi, regional planner Jane
Jacobs, bioregionalist Kirkpatrick Sale, and many others,
they continue to build a modern decentralist legacy.
The Schumacher Society is dedicated to gathering this
rich decentralist tradition, continuing to bring the
values of scale and sustainability into our modern discourse,
and demonstrating that small is not only beautiful–
it is a viable alternative.
