This website presents a collection of informal articles concerning "convivial tools."

The Word "Conviviality" as used by Ivan Illich

The term "convivial tools" comes from Ivan Illich’s book "Tools for Conviviality," published in 1973.

Illich presented a radical critique of the existing system of industrial tools, which is oriented towards mass production for consumer society. He observed that: "As the power of machines increases, the role of persons decreases to that of mere consumers."

Illich wanted to "invert the present deep structure of tools" and to "give people tools that guarantee their right to work with independent efficiency." He claimed that "people need new tools to work with rather than tools that work for them." Illich suggested that such tools would enhance a sort of "graceful playfulness" in personal relations, which he summed up by calling such tools "convivial."

Conviviality in and out of Fashion

Illich’s ideas about "convivial tools" influenced the generation of hardware hackers that first developed personal computers in the 1970s (see the notably the article on Lee Felsenstein).

Most of the themes developed by Illich, such as the need to develop "convivial tools," the need for alternatives to institutionalized schooling, and the dangers of institutionalized medecine, have gone somewhat out of style. Written in the nineteen-seventies, his books on these subjects may now seem dated, in part because the some of the solutions he called for have been realised through the development of the personal computer and the internet.

However, the current state of industrial technology is still far from fulfilling what Illich called for. "Convivial tools" remains the term which best expresses the vision of new tools to enhance the "independent efficiency" of the users.

Introductory Articles

Visitors to this site might begin by looking at the following articles:

• Life and works of Ivan Illich
• Ivan Illich and the digital revolution
• Lee Felsenstein and the convivial computer
• The characteristics of convivial tools

The Dimensions of Conviviality

Illich used the word "tool" in the widest possible sense, to refer to any human construct that can be used to achieve human ends. Thus in this sense language and ideas are tools, as much as physical implements are.

This site divides the field of "conviviality," taken in the widest sense, into four main categories: technical, mental, social and personal conviviality. Adding a first category covering general principles, and a final category about the site itself, gives the following break-down of this website:

1. General Conviviality
   
2. Technical Conviviality
   
3. Mental Conviviality
   
4. Social Conviviality
   
5. Personal Conviviality
   
6. About This Site
   

Each of these main headings is then broken down into sub-headings as follows:

1. Principles
2. Tool Families
3. Design of the Tools
4. Related Themes

The horizontal headings and vertical sub-headings form a two-dimensional matrix, as explained in the article Inner Structure of this Site.

For the current table of contents of this site, see the Site Map.

Towards an Encyclopedia of Conviviality

This website is currently evolving into an on-line encyclopedia on the subject of convivial tools, as explained in the article "An Encyclopedia of Conviviality". It presents an encyclopedic collection of articles covering underlying principles, historical background and current practice in the domain of convivial tools. It aims to be comprehensive, with little concern for immediate practical applications.

Many articles are either incomplete or remain to be written. Any article that is particularly incomplete terminates with the indication that it is a stub.

Search in this site :