Building The Convivial Society | Ivan Illich
In previous installments, inspired by the thought of the great cultural critic Ivan Illich, we considered what human freedom means and discussed the importance of maximizing for human agency. We also looked at, among other things, Ivan Illich’s critique of the modern education and health systems.
I wanted to end our initial foray into the work of Illich by revisiting some of the practical ways by which human agency can be maximized, and what it might look like to begin to try to create Illich’s convivial society. Let’s begin by returning to an earlier quote:
“A convivial society should be designed to allow all its members the most autonomous action by means of tools least controlled by others.”
– Ivan Illich, Tools for Conviviality
Human Scale Tools
As I mentioned earlier, in Tools for Conviviality Illich discusses his idea of the “radical monopoly” of modern tools, which is a good place to begin. Most tools that have a radical monopoly are not sustainable in the long-term, as they rely on limited energy and raw material inputs. While we can’t stop the use of these tools by others, we can create a counterculture that returns to human scale tools that do not require an industrial society to use.
Human scale tools tend to be less “efficient,” but they are sustainable, and for this reason, they empower humans by giving them control over their life and work. Anything that relies on complex, centrally-controlled systems should be looked at with suspicion.
Education
We began our study of Illich by looking at his ideas regarding education. For Illich, educational institutions are not in the business of educating to maximize human flourishing, but rather to maximize efficiency and utility. To truly learn, students must find themselves in a setting appropriate for learning:
“Most learning is not the result of instruction. It is rather the result of unhampered participation in a meaningful setting.”
– Ivan Illich, Deschooling Society
In Illich’s understanding, true education is experiential and communal rather than sedentary and individualistic. The educational system is inherently flawed and must be built again from the ground up. The new educational system must prioritize human flourishing, and give each student the opportunity to grow according to the unique gifts and capacities with which they were born.
Health
In our last installment, we looked at Illich’s views regarding the medical industrial complex, and focused on his insistence that in order for people to live healthy and happy lives they must live in a culture that empowers them to honestly address their human frailty and mortality. The great take away is that each of us needs to wrest back control over our lives from the medical industrial complex. We need to learn to accept and embrace our limitations, while providing support to those around us to do the same. Most of the true solutions to the modern world’s ailments are grass-roots efforts that begin with each person re-acquiring the agency that they have given up to modern institutions. The ability to control one’s own life varies from country to country, but to the extent that this possible, it is the only way to lead a healthy and happy life. This is also the only way that real change will ultimately take place.
OK…that’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed this final look at the work of Ivan Illich…as always, stay tuned for more by downloading The How Did We Get Here? Reading List…and I will see you soon!