Appropriate technology theory

Inspired by Ghandi and refined by E.F. Schumacher appropriate technology argues that technology adoption should be done in context with the local community and mindful of its potential consequences. Simply put, not all new tech is good tech at any time for all people.

Mohandas Gandhi is being credited as one of the founders of appropriate technology while the British economist Dr. Fritz Schumacher is generally regarded as catalyst of the appropriate technology movement.

Gandhi did not believe that technological development is inherently synonymous with progress. He felt that the paradigm of technology should not be one that disenfranchises people and be used in the pursuit of violence, Gandhi advocated for the adoption of small, local, mostly village-based technology to help India's villages become self reliant and thus aid in the freedom struggle against British and wealthy Indians.

E.F.Schumacher was inspired by Gandhi’s philosophy on village development. In the 1970s, he published the book “Small is Beautiful—Economics as if people mattered,” which put forward the idea of an intermediate technology. In general, appropriate technology is regarded as the kind of innovation that is centered on the community, something that is suitable for local conditions. This, however, does not necessarily mean that appropriate technology is “low-tech.”

Steve Troy of the Sustainable Village defined appropriate technology as people being mindful of what they are doing and being aware of its consequences. Troy viewed appropriate technology as a “genuine solution to economic needs.”