Tools for community: Ivan Illich's legacy.

MacDonald, Stuart Wyllie

Abstract

Although it is 40 years since Ivan Illich published Tools for Conviviality, the word 'convivial' retains an appeal conjuring up liveliness, sociability and, in this age of economic uncertainty, optimism. But in an era of co-creation and co-production the word 'tools' has attracted greater attention, heralding Illich is due for regeneration. Superficially, the rise of technologies like Facebook and smartphones signal Illich's convivial tools have arrived, giving creativity to a mass audience. This article questions whether this is so by revisiting Illich's critique of capitalism and its institutions, particularly education, and examining claims that we have indeed built tools of conviviality. It seeks to reframe convivial tools and the democratization of education by looking at developments beyond digital technology to include design strategy linked to community challenges. The opportunity is taken to re-contextualize Illich's ideas on de-schooling by providing models and a case study exemplar whilst raising issues for design education.

Citation

MACDONALD, S.W. 2012. Tools for community: Ivan Illich's legacy. International journal of education through art [online], 8(2), pages 121-133. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1386/eta.8.2.121_1

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 24, 2012
• Online Publication Date: May 24, 2012
• Publication Date: May 24, 2012
• Deposit Date: Aug 11, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 11, 2014
• Journal: International journal of education through art
• Print ISSN: 1743-5234
• Electronic ISSN: 2040-090X
• Publisher: Intellect
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 121-133
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/eta.8.2.121_1
• Keywords: Tools; Craft; Design; Commumity
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/1014