Reviews for Tools for conviviality

The average rating for Tools for conviviality based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2007-11-06 00:00:00 Joshua Stimpson Having a rather anti-professional stance myself, I was happy to come across Illich's work. He raises a lot of interesting issues and ideas. His basic premise is that over-industrialization has fashioned us into dependent clients of a professional elite. Or, in other words, our tools (using "tools" in the broadest sense, meaning both industry and social systems) have developed beyond our ability to use them as individuals/communities. We cannot learn on our own; we cannot heal on our own; etc. Sadly, however, I think his argument is weakened by being both too extreme and poorly argued. Still, as someone who on one hand didn't need much convincing and on the other wasn't going to be totally convinced, I found this a very interesting and provocative read. We should be talking about Illich.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-04-18 00:00:00 John LeMaster Illich is an author that I frequently find being quoted by numerous authors that I value and respect. It was time for me to read directly from the source. This book was originally published in 1973, but it has stood the test of time, and Illich's insights into the nature of present day technologies and the need for fundamental technology reform are as relevant today as they were then. At the core of Illich's argument is a call to develop and implement technologies that promote and sustain the creative faculties of autonomous individuals living in authentic communities of deliberation and debate. I especially appreciated his shrewd insight that such a reform is not merely a matter of redirecting technologies to new or different ends/goals, but instead to design technologies differently. In many respects Illich anticipates Langdon Winner's superb point that the specific design of technologies precipitates distinctive forms of political relationship (i.e. including some, excluding others, giving voice and silencing, etc.) that should be the subject of ethical deliberation. Illich's style is succinct and accessible and I would recommend this book to a wide audience.