Degradation of environment and community, along with its economic causes, has been the subject of much concern in recent years. In this book, some of the most respected authorities in the field discuss the historical, cultural, social, political, and economic implications of this degradation and suggest citizen initiatives that may halt it.

Contributors explore topics that range from agricultural reform to bioregional economics. They all, however, focus on the importance of sustainability, community, healthy and locally based economies of scale, education, the dignity of good work, and balance between human needs and the well-being of the natural world.

The book is based on the annual lecture series sponsored by the E. F. Schumacher Society, a series honoring the ideas that Schumacher first put forward in his classic book Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered.