E. F. Schumacher - Later Life and Posthumous Recognition

Later Life and Posthumous Recognition

As a young man, Schumacher was a dedicated atheist, but his later rejection of materialist, capitalist, agnostic modernity was paralleled by a growing fascination with religion. His interest in Buddhism has been noted. However, from the late 1950s on, Catholicism heavily influenced his thought. He noted the similarities between his own economic views and the teaching of papal encyclicals on socio-economic issues, from Leo XIII's "Rerum Novarum" to Pope John XXIII's "Mater et Magistra", as well as with the distributism supported by the Catholic thinkers G. K. Chesterton, Hilaire Belloc and Vincent McNabb. Philosophically, he absorbed much of Thomism, which provided an objective system in contrast to what he saw as the self-centered subjectivism and relativism of modern philosophy and society. He also was greatly interested in the tradition of Christian mysticism, reading deeply such writers as St. Teresa of Avila and Thomas Merton. These were all interests that he shared with his friend, the Catholic writer Christopher Derrick. In 1971, he converted to Catholicism.

Schumacher gave interviews and published articles for a wide readership in his later years. He also pursued one of the loves of his life: gardening. He died during a lecture tour of a heart attack on 4 September 1977, in Switzerland.

The Schumacher Circle is a family of organisations which were founded in E.F. Schumacher's memory or were inspired by his work, and which cooperate to support each other. The circle includes the Schumacher College in Totnes, Devon, the Resurgence Magazine (now Resurgence & Ecologist), the publishing company Green Books, the international non-governmental organisation Practical Action, the New Economics Foundation in the UK, the New Economics Institute (formerly called the E. F. Schumacher Society) founded in New England, the Soil Association, the educational centre Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) North Wales, the Jeevika Trust, and the research organisation Schumacher Institute in Bristol.

Schumacher's personal collection of books and archives are held by New Economics Institute library in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The Institute continues the work of E. F. Schumacher by maintaining a research library, organizing lectures and seminars, publishing papers, developing model economic programs, and providing technical assistance to groups all for the purpose of linking people, land, and community to build strong, diverse local economies.