The Challenges of Ivan Illich: A Collective Reflection [Paperback]

Lee Hoinacki (Editor), Carl Mitcham (Series Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0791454223 | ISBN-13: 978-0791454220 | Publication Date: July 2002

Original essays explore the thought and influence of philosopher, educator, social critic, and theologian Ivan Illich.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

This unique collection examines the man Utne Reader has called the greatest social critic of the twentieth century. The essays-all but one written by people who knew Illich personally-discuss how his life and thought have affected conceptualization, study, and practice of psychotherapy, notions about education, ideas concerning the historical developments of texts, perceptions of technology, as well as other topics. All of Illich's books are discussed and his ideas on education, theology, technology, anarchism, and society are examined in relationship to those of René Girard, Karl Polanyi, Emmanuel Levinas, and Jacques Ellul. Illich's previously unpublished paper offering a new view of conspiracy in European history is included. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Lee Hoinacki teaches in the STS Program at Penn State University Park and is the author of El Camino: Walking to Santiago de Compostela and Stumbling Toward Justice: Stories of Place. Carl Mitcham is Professor of Liberal Arts and International Studies at the Colorado School of Mines and has published many books, including Thinking through Technology: The Path between Engineering and Philosophy; Philosophy and Technology: Readings in the Philosophical Problems of Technology (coedited with Robert Mackey); and Visions of STS: Counterpoints in Science, Technology, and Society Studies, (coedited with Stephen H. Cutcliffe), also published by SUNY Press. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 268 pages
• Publisher: State University of New York Press (July 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791454223
• ISBN-13: 978-0791454220
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,825,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For those who "get" Ivan Illich, January 3, 2003

By 

John W. Verity (South Orange, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Challenges of Ivan Illich: A Collective Reflection (Hardcover)

If you're unfamiliar with Ivan Illich and his penetrating critique of the modern, industrialized, commodified, Western way of life, this is not the book for you. Better you should read Illich's Deschooling Society, Tools for Conviviality, or Gender--indeed, any of his dozen or so major books. Or, listen to the Canadian Broadcasting Co.'s engaging interviews with Illich, available on tape from CBC and Amazon.
If, though, you've read Illich or heard him speak, you know the ethical and intellectual challenges he presents and you'll no doubt appreciate this well-chosen collection of essays. It appears to be the most comprehensive treatment yet of Illich's thought, and as such it is long overdue. (As Carl Mitcham's introductory essay points out, there have been several books over the years that deal with specific areas of Illich's thought, such as his call for deschooling. David Cayley's Ivan Illich in Conversation, based on the CBC interviews, provides perhaps the best single overview of Illich's life and work.)
To truly grasp Illich's arguments, I have found, is to find oneself moved and even pained. It is to feel, to truly feel in one's gut, a tension between great power and immense powerlessness. Illich the visionary anarchist champions autonomy, communities of people working and caring for each other rather than depending on anonymous professionals, nurturing deep friendships, and living free of artificially imposed hierarchies. So, Illich's vision inspires one to act and change the world somehow. Yet, Illich the social historian explains better than anyone else around how enslaved we have become to overgrown institutions and the economically driven service economy. Certain tools, like the car, have gained "radical monopolies" over our lives and are now terribly difficult to do without. Just as the over-consumption of goods tends to ruin the physical environment, he makes clear, the over-consumption of services such as compulsory education and medical care wrecks the social fabric. Schools make us dumb, hospitals increase sickness, cars frustrate by causing traffic jams and costing us dearly.
The essays in this book range from the highly personal to the highly intellectual. Each of the contributors knows Illich's work well or worked closely with the man over the years. And each, in his or her own way, explains how Illich's relentless critique has challenged them in their own daily lives, professions, or academic thinking.
There is a great deal of love expressed here, as there should be. Illich inspired many people over the years yet always declined, not always so graciously, to actively play the guru. His great intellectual and rhetorical gifts make this humility and renunciation of power all the more impressive.
Though Illich has largely been dismissed in the U.S. since the early 1970s (when Deschooling Society actually got him 15 minutes on the Dick Cavett show), I understand that in Europe and in "developing" nations, he is widely regarded as one of the more incisive social critics.
One hopes that this volume's co-editors will follow through on their hint within that they may pull together another such book of tributes to and engagements with Ivan Illich. I wouldn't be surprised, despite Illich's death in December 2002, to see interest in his work actually increase in coming years as his critique reveals itself to be more accurate and useful than we can understand right now.

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6 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars READ ILLICH'S WORK!, February 19, 2005

By 

Shaun Wakelin "Divine's Love Child" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Challenges of Ivan Illich: A Collective Reflection (Paperback)

I want to agree with the review below and just say that whenever I read any of Ivan's books [I keep re-reading them!] I feel more real and definitely feel better about living in this world. 'Challenges' is a great collection by some of Ivan's friends. Some of the articles are a bit intellectually weighty but there are a few really accessible chapters that newcomers will understand. As John W. Verity suggested - try and read Ivan's earlier stuff - its very readable and VERY relevant right now. His work disturbs, motivates, inspires a sense of peace and acceptance - And despite his largely accessible writing style he's actually hard to pin down at times, but this is what makes him cool. I get the sense that he'd 'accept' ANY predictable label one would throw at him with a big cheeky smile on his cute face. I really wish I'd had the chance to meet him and cuddle him whether he liked it or not. He would no doubt have told me whether he wanted me around or not, but at least I would have got to touch him...!