This book contains the proceedings of a conference on ‘Responsibility in Economics and Business: the legacy of E.F. Schumacher’ held in September 2011 by the Centre for Ethics of the University of Antwerp and the Business Ethics Center of Budapest. It engages with Schumacher’s vision and addresses a need for responsibility in economics and business.

Hendrik Opdebeeck is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Antwerp where he is affiliated with the Centre for Ethics. He studied philosophy and economics at the Universities of Leuven and Ghent where he obtained a PhD with a dissertation on E.F. Schumacher. His research is focused on cultural-philosophical backgrounds and effects of globalization. His publications in English include (2000), (2002), with L. Bouckaert and L. Zsolnai: (Peter Lang, Oxford, 2008) and with L. Zsolnai: (2006).

Contents: Hendrik Opdebeeck: Introduction: A Utopian Economic Paradigm? – Walter Moss: Schumacher’s Wisdom-Centered Economics – Laszlo Zsolnai: The Importance of Meta-economics – Gábor Kóvacs: Buddhist Economics – Roy Varghese: Authentic Development and Responsibility in Economics – Zubin Mulla: Karma-Yoga and Schumacher’s Theory of Good Work – Gerrit de Vylder: The East as a Practical and Spiritual Basis for Economics – Philip Bruce: The Legacy of Schumacher in the Scott Bader Company Today – Christian Arnsperger: Small is Beautiful: But is it Responsible? A Critical Reappraisal of E.F. Schumacher’s Contribution to Ecological Economics and Political Ecology – Carlos Hoevel: The Call for Responsibility and the Crisis – Michał Michalski: Economics as if the Family Mattered – Ludo Abicht: Who Really Needs Frugality? – Simon Trace: Responsibility in Technology – Luk Bouckaert: Schumacher and the Principle of Responsibility in Economics – Paul Jorion: Profit as One of the Questions of Schumacher – Knut Ims/Ove Jakobsen: Initiating an Open Research System Based on Creativity – Alexis Versele/Barbara Wauman/Hilde Breesch: Achieving Sustainable Housing – Joel Thompson: Recreating ‘Economics of Permanence’ in Africa – Bennie Callebaut/Luigino Bruni: The Economy of Communion as a Charismatic Practice – Stewart Wallis: The Urgent Need to Transform Economics – Hendrik Opdebeeck: Conclusion: From a Utopian towards a Uglobian Economic Paradigm. Schumacher’s Plea for Frugal Responsibility – Appendix: Proposal for a Charter of Universal Responsibilities presented at the Rio+20 Conference June 2012.