Small is Beautiful
Topic: Natural Resources: Classification, Planning and Sustainable Use · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 1 "Resources and Development"
Meaning
Small is Beautiful is a book by the economist E.F. Schumacher. It was first published in 1973, though NCERT gives the date as 1974. It restated Gandhi's ideas for the modern world. Schumacher argued that big, resource-hungry industries harm both people and nature. He wanted small-scale technology that serves people, uses local materials and keeps work close to communities. The book is a key text on resource conservation.
Example
The Auroville Earth Institute, near Puducherry, builds homes from local mud instead of cement, which is one of the most polluting industries. Its small, low-energy method uses local soil and local workers, much as Schumacher suggested.
Don't confuse with
- The Limits to Growth (1972): a computer-model warning about global limits. Small is Beautiful offers a solution instead: small, people-centred production.
Related concepts
- Gandhian view of resource conservation
- Stockholm Conference 1972
- Brundtland Commission Report
- Sustainable development