Leopold Kohr
Encyclopedia
Leopold Kohr was an economist
, jurist
and political scientist known both for his opposition to the "cult of bigness" in social organization and as one of those who inspired the small is beautiful
movement. For almost twenty years he was Professor of Economics and Public Administration at the University of Puerto Rico
. He described himself as a "philosophical anarchist." His most influential work was The Breakdown of Nations.
Kohr grew up in the small town of Oberndorf
near Salzburg
, and it remained his ideal of community. He often commented on the fact that the Christmas carol "Silent Night
" was written and composed as "Stille Nacht" in his home village. He obtained doctorate
degrees in law at the University of Innsbruck in Austria and political science at the University of Vienna
. He also studied economics
and political theory at the London School of Economics
.
In 1937 Kohr became a freelance correspondent during the Spanish Civil War
, where he was impressed by the limited, self-contained governments of the separatist states of Catalonia
and Aragon
, as well as the small Spanish anarchist city states of Alcoy and Caspe
. He became close friends with journalist George Orwell
and shared offices with correspondents Ernest Hemingway
and André Malraux
.
Kohr fled Austria in 1938 after it was annexed by Nazi Germany
and emigrated to the United States and became a citizen.
Kohr taught economics and political philosophy at New Jersey
's Rutgers University
from 1943 to 1955. From 1955 to 1973 he served as professor of Economics and Public Administration at the University of Puerto Rico
in San Juan
. There he developed his concepts of village renewal and traffic calming. He also advised the independence movement of the nearby island of Anguilla
.
After many rejections by American and British publishers, Kohr's first book The Breakdown of Nations was published in 1957 in Britain after a chance meeting with British anarchist Sir Herbert Read
.
In 1973 Kohr moved from Puerto Rico to Wales, whose Welsh Independence
movement he had long advised and supported. He taught political philosophy at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. After retiring from teaching he divided his time between Gloucester
, England and Hellbrunn
, outside Salzburg
.
In 1983 in Stockholm
, Sweden, Kohr received the Right Livelihood Award
, sometimes called the Alternative Nobel Prize, "for his early inspiration of the movement for a human scale." In 1984 Salzburg created the Leopold Kohr Academy and the Cultural Association "Tauriska" to put his theories of regional autonomy into practice.
Kohr was planning to return to his hometown of Oberndorf to live when he died in 1994. He was buried in Oberndorf. Salzburg journalist Gerald Lehner completed a biography of Kohr, based in part on long audio taped interviews, in 1994.
Kohr was a charming conversationalist and a witty, elegant debunker of popular assumptions. Author Ivan Illich
describes him as "a funny bird—meek, fay, droll, and incisive", as well as "unassuming" and even "radically humble."
In his first published essay "Disunion Now: A Plea for a Society based upon Small Autonomous Units", published in Commonweal
in 1941, Kohr wrote about a Europe at war: "We have ridiculed the many little states, now we are terrorized by their few successors." He called for the breakup of Europe into hundreds of city states. Kohr developed his ideas in a series of books, including The Breakdown of Nations (1957), Development without Aid (1973) and The Overdeveloped Nations (1977).
From Leopold Kohr's most popular work The Breakdown of Nations:
Kohr was an important inspiration to the Green
, bioregional
, Fourth World
, decentralist
, and anarchist
movements, Kohr contributed often to John Papworth
's `Journal for the Fourth World', Resurgence
. One of Kohr's students was economist E. F. Schumacher
, another prominent influence on these movements, whose best selling book Small Is Beautiful
took its title from one of Kohr's core principles. Similarly, his ideas inspired Kirkpatrick Sale
's books Human Scale (1980) and Dwellers in the Land: The Bioregional Vision (1985). Sale arranged the first American publication of The Breakdown of Nations in 1978 and wrote the foreword.
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
, jurist
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
and political scientist known both for his opposition to the "cult of bigness" in social organization and as one of those who inspired the small is beautiful
Small Is Beautiful
Small Is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered is a collection of essays by British economist E. F. Schumacher. The phrase "Small Is Beautiful" came from a phrase by his teacher Leopold Kohr...
movement. For almost twenty years he was Professor of Economics and Public Administration at the University of Puerto Rico
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico is the state university system of Puerto Rico. The system consists of 11 campuses and has approximately 64,511 students and 5,300 faculty members...
. He described himself as a "philosophical anarchist." His most influential work was The Breakdown of Nations.
Life and work
Oberndorf bei Salzburg
Oberndorf bei Salzburg is a town in the Austrian state of Salzburg, about 17 km north of the City of Salzburg. It is situated on the river Salzach in the Flachgau district.-Overview:Its twin sister-town across the Salzach Bridge is Laufen in Bavaria...
near Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
, and it remained his ideal of community. He often commented on the fact that the Christmas carol "Silent Night
Silent Night
"Silent Night" is a popular Christmas carol. The original lyrics of the song "Stille Nacht" were written in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria, by the priest Father Joseph Mohr and the melody was composed by the Austrian headmaster Franz Xaver Gruber...
" was written and composed as "Stille Nacht" in his home village. He obtained doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
degrees in law at the University of Innsbruck in Austria and political science at the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
. He also studied economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
and political theory at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
.
In 1937 Kohr became a freelance correspondent during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, where he was impressed by the limited, self-contained governments of the separatist states of Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
and Aragon
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
, as well as the small Spanish anarchist city states of Alcoy and Caspe
Caspe
Caspe or Casp is a historic town and municipality in the province of Zaragoza, in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It is situated some 100 km to the east of the provincial capital, Zaragoza.-History:...
. He became close friends with journalist George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
and shared offices with correspondents Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
and André Malraux
André Malraux
André Malraux DSO was a French adventurer, award-winning author, and statesman. Having traveled extensively in Indochina and China, Malraux was noted especially for his novel entitled La Condition Humaine , which won the Prix Goncourt...
.
Kohr fled Austria in 1938 after it was annexed by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and emigrated to the United States and became a citizen.
Kohr taught economics and political philosophy at New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
's Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
from 1943 to 1955. From 1955 to 1973 he served as professor of Economics and Public Administration at the University of Puerto Rico
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico is the state university system of Puerto Rico. The system consists of 11 campuses and has approximately 64,511 students and 5,300 faculty members...
in San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
. There he developed his concepts of village renewal and traffic calming. He also advised the independence movement of the nearby island of Anguilla
Anguilla
Anguilla is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin...
.
After many rejections by American and British publishers, Kohr's first book The Breakdown of Nations was published in 1957 in Britain after a chance meeting with British anarchist Sir Herbert Read
Herbert Read
Sir Herbert Edward Read, DSO, MC was an English anarchist, poet, and critic of literature and art. He was one of the earliest English writers to take notice of existentialism, and was strongly influenced by proto-existentialist thinker Max Stirner....
.
In 1973 Kohr moved from Puerto Rico to Wales, whose Welsh Independence
Welsh independence
Welsh independence is a political ideal advocated by some people in Wales that would see Wales secede from the United Kingdom and become an independent sovereign state. This ideology is promoted mainly by the Welsh nationalist party, Plaid Cymru.-History:...
movement he had long advised and supported. He taught political philosophy at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. After retiring from teaching he divided his time between Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
, England and Hellbrunn
Hellbrunn
Hellbrunn is Landschaftsraum in Salzburg, Salzburgerland, Austria.-Location:It is in the south of the city, being limited by the north with Fürstenweg, in the west limits with the Hellbrunner Schlossmauer, in the east with the Salzach river and in the south it's limited by Anif.- Surrounds :In this...
, outside Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
.
In 1983 in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden, Kohr received the Right Livelihood Award
Right Livelihood Award
The Right Livelihood Award, also referred to as the "Alternative Nobel Prize", is a prestigious international award to honour those "working on practical and exemplary solutions to the most urgent challenges facing the world today". The prize was established in 1980 by Jakob von Uexkull, and is...
, sometimes called the Alternative Nobel Prize, "for his early inspiration of the movement for a human scale." In 1984 Salzburg created the Leopold Kohr Academy and the Cultural Association "Tauriska" to put his theories of regional autonomy into practice.
Kohr was planning to return to his hometown of Oberndorf to live when he died in 1994. He was buried in Oberndorf. Salzburg journalist Gerald Lehner completed a biography of Kohr, based in part on long audio taped interviews, in 1994.
Kohr was a charming conversationalist and a witty, elegant debunker of popular assumptions. Author Ivan Illich
Ivan Illich
Ivan Illich was an Austrian philosopher, Roman Catholic priest, and "maverick social critic" of the institutions of contemporary western culture and their effects on the provenance and practice of education, medicine, work, energy use, transportation, and economic development.- Personal life...
describes him as "a funny bird—meek, fay, droll, and incisive", as well as "unassuming" and even "radically humble."
Philosophy
Kohr described himself as a "philosophical anarchist." Kohr protested the "cult of bigness" and economic growth and promoted the concept of human scale and small community life. He argued that massive external aid to poorer nations stifled local initiatives and participation. His vision called for a dissolution of centralized political and economic structures in favor of local control.In his first published essay "Disunion Now: A Plea for a Society based upon Small Autonomous Units", published in Commonweal
Commonweal
Commonweal is a American journal of opinion edited and managed by lay Catholics. It is headquartered in The Interchurch Center in New York City.-History:...
in 1941, Kohr wrote about a Europe at war: "We have ridiculed the many little states, now we are terrorized by their few successors." He called for the breakup of Europe into hundreds of city states. Kohr developed his ideas in a series of books, including The Breakdown of Nations (1957), Development without Aid (1973) and The Overdeveloped Nations (1977).
From Leopold Kohr's most popular work The Breakdown of Nations:
[...] there seems to be only one cause behind all forms of social misery: bigness. Oversimplified as this may seem, we shall find the idea more easily acceptable if we consider that bigness, or oversize, is really much more than just a social problem. It appears to be the one and only problem permeating all creation. Whenever something is wrong, something is too big. [...] And if the body of a people becomes diseased with the fever of aggression, brutality, collectivism, or massive idiocy, it is not because it has fallen victim to bad leadership or mental derangement. It is because human beings, so charming as individuals or in small aggregations, have been welded into overconcentrated social units.
Kohr was an important inspiration to the Green
Green Movement
The Green Movement refers to a series of actions after the 2009 Iranian presidential election, in which protesters demanded the removal of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from office...
, bioregional
Bioregionalism
Bioregionalism is a political, cultural, and environmental system or set of views based on naturally defined areas called bioregions, similar to ecoregions. Bioregions are defined through physical and environmental features, including watershed boundaries and soil and terrain characteristics...
, Fourth World
Fourth World
Fourth World refers to a sub-population subjected to social exclusion in global society, or stateless and notably impoverished or marginalized nations.Fourth World may also refer to:...
, decentralist
Decentralization
__FORCETOC__Decentralization or decentralisation is the process of dispersing decision-making governance closer to the people and/or citizens. It includes the dispersal of administration or governance in sectors or areas like engineering, management science, political science, political economy,...
, and anarchist
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
movements, Kohr contributed often to John Papworth
John Papworth
John Papworth After being reared in an orphanage, the Reverend John Papworth has been at various times a baker, journalist, economist - London University graduate, ecologist, a self proclaimed 'futurist' and Church of England priest...
's `Journal for the Fourth World', Resurgence
Resurgence
Resurgence is a British bi-monthly magazine which has been described as the artistic and spiritual voice of the green movement in Great Britain. Resurgence was founded in the 1960s by John Papworth....
. One of Kohr's students was economist E. F. Schumacher
E. F. Schumacher
Ernst Friedrich "Fritz" Schumacher was an internationally influential economic thinker, statistician and economist in Britain, serving as Chief Economic Advisor to the UK National Coal Board for two decades. His ideas became popularized in much of the English-speaking world during the 1970s...
, another prominent influence on these movements, whose best selling book Small Is Beautiful
Small Is Beautiful
Small Is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered is a collection of essays by British economist E. F. Schumacher. The phrase "Small Is Beautiful" came from a phrase by his teacher Leopold Kohr...
took its title from one of Kohr's core principles. Similarly, his ideas inspired Kirkpatrick Sale
Kirkpatrick Sale
Kirkpatrick Sale is an independent scholar and author who has written prolifically about political decentralism, environmentalism, luddism and technology...
's books Human Scale (1980) and Dwellers in the Land: The Bioregional Vision (1985). Sale arranged the first American publication of The Breakdown of Nations in 1978 and wrote the foreword.
See also
- AnarchismAnarchismAnarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
- BioregionalismBioregionalismBioregionalism is a political, cultural, and environmental system or set of views based on naturally defined areas called bioregions, similar to ecoregions. Bioregions are defined through physical and environmental features, including watershed boundaries and soil and terrain characteristics...
- City state
- DecentralizationDecentralization__FORCETOC__Decentralization or decentralisation is the process of dispersing decision-making governance closer to the people and/or citizens. It includes the dispersal of administration or governance in sectors or areas like engineering, management science, political science, political economy,...
- Human scaleHuman scaleHuman scale is the set of physical quantities, and quantities of information, characterizing the human body, its motor, sensory, or mental capabilities, and human social institutions.- Science vs...
- SecessionSecessionSecession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
- Simple livingSimple livingSimple living encompasses a number of different voluntary practices to simplify one's lifestyle. These may include reducing one's possessions or increasing self-sufficiency, for example. Simple living may be characterized by individuals being satisfied with what they need rather than want...
External links
- Leopold Kohr @ 30|THIRTY Project- 30sec. films for each of the Right Livelihood Award Laureates
- Right Livelihood Award for Leopold Kohr
- Leopold Kohr online
- Leopold Kohr Akademie
- The Wisdom of Leopold Kohr, Ivan IllichIvan IllichIvan Illich was an Austrian philosopher, Roman Catholic priest, and "maverick social critic" of the institutions of contemporary western culture and their effects on the provenance and practice of education, medicine, work, energy use, transportation, and economic development.- Personal life...
, Fourteenth Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures, October 1994, Yale University - Leopold Kohr Online links to Kohr articles
- Kirkpatrick Sale comments on Kohr and Breakdown of Nations at VermontCommons.Org, September 2005 and from Newsletter of the E.F. Schumacher Society, Spring 1997
- Robert Benewick, Philip Green, The Routledge Dictionary of Twentieth-century Political Thinkers, Profile of Leopold Kohr, Routledge, 1998, 131-132, ISBN 0415096235
- The power theory of aggression from The Breakdown of Nations (1957)