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Celebration of Awareness: A Call for Institutional Revolution
s/ A Call for Institutional RevolutionThe book consists of 12 essays on the following Vietnam & the resistance; the war on poverty; Latin America, Puerto Rico & immigration to the US mainland; Catholic Church problems; the Church's role in social change & development; the futility of schooling; the question of technical assistance & programs for 3rd world birth control. Each issue, while real & urgent in its own right, becomes a paradigm case which reveals a fundamental theoria/praxis of revolution, informed by a philosophical & theological discipline & sensibility which transcends, tho it cannot avoid, concrete issues in a given time & place. In each essay, Illich uses the method of radical doubt--not in a Cartesian but in a Socratic sense. He challenges the 'nature of some certainty' purveyed as truth. Hence he's dealing with 'the deception embodied in one of our institutions.' The most widespread & pernicious deception pretended as certainty he questions is the certainty of ideological liberals who assume that people make their livee by their institutions & therefore the institutions of N. American industrial civilization can & should be translated to the 3rd world for its own especially the institutions of schooling & technical assistance designed to help a given nation emulate the affluence of the US.--Richard A. Journal of the American Academy of Religion (edited)
156 pages, Paperback
First published July 5, 1968
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About the author
Ivan Illich
108 books449 followersIvan Illich was an Austrian philosopher, Roman Catholic priest and critic of the institutions of contemporary western culture and their effects of the provenance and practice of education, medicine, work, energy use, and economic development.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 12, 2014
One of my colleagues at Loyola was Dr. Jack Goldman, a former chemistry professor who served as the university's pre-med advisor. Ostensibly he came under my boss, the head of The Board of Undergraduate Studies and Dean of the part-time undergraduate division, but he actually pretty much ran his own show by his own lights out of our Lake Shore Campus offices.
Jack was very old school, very principled in his own way, almost completely ungovernable--except by his assistant, Dorothy. I was up with the two of them first one, then several days a week. Originally, they both probably saw me and, indeed, the entire administrative structure of the university, as an intrusion, but gradually Dorothy and I became friendly and Jack may have even gotten to more than tolerate me.
One of the first indications that Jack saw me as something more than an irritant was that he reached out to involve me in welcoming Dr. Ivan Illich to speak. Apparently the two of them knew each other, despite the fact that the one was a renigade monsignor, the other an observant Jew. In any case, Illich was the one person I ever met in the flesh that Jack actually respected--respected so much that he had worked hard to get him to speak to the community and particularly to the wanna-be physicians.
This all occurred in the context of my adopting a host consciousness for the great man. I was very much struck by the prominent cancerous tumor on Illich's neck, a tumor he had refused, Jack told me, to have removed, but cannot remember much of what he said. The tumor and how highly Jack spoke of him is what left an impression. I resolved to get around to reading him.
Read Illich I did, years later, in the form of this collection of his writings, a collection challenging enough to make me intent to read more as the occasion arises and cheap editions of his other works appear in local bookstores.
Jack went on to be laid off by the university administration. Later, so too did I and about a thousand others during a major restructuring of the institution which led to the abolishment of our entire old college. Jack also went on to marry Dorothy, the one person who seemed able to control him.
Jack was very old school, very principled in his own way, almost completely ungovernable--except by his assistant, Dorothy. I was up with the two of them first one, then several days a week. Originally, they both probably saw me and, indeed, the entire administrative structure of the university, as an intrusion, but gradually Dorothy and I became friendly and Jack may have even gotten to more than tolerate me.
One of the first indications that Jack saw me as something more than an irritant was that he reached out to involve me in welcoming Dr. Ivan Illich to speak. Apparently the two of them knew each other, despite the fact that the one was a renigade monsignor, the other an observant Jew. In any case, Illich was the one person I ever met in the flesh that Jack actually respected--respected so much that he had worked hard to get him to speak to the community and particularly to the wanna-be physicians.
This all occurred in the context of my adopting a host consciousness for the great man. I was very much struck by the prominent cancerous tumor on Illich's neck, a tumor he had refused, Jack told me, to have removed, but cannot remember much of what he said. The tumor and how highly Jack spoke of him is what left an impression. I resolved to get around to reading him.
Read Illich I did, years later, in the form of this collection of his writings, a collection challenging enough to make me intent to read more as the occasion arises and cheap editions of his other works appear in local bookstores.
Jack went on to be laid off by the university administration. Later, so too did I and about a thousand others during a major restructuring of the institution which led to the abolishment of our entire old college. Jack also went on to marry Dorothy, the one person who seemed able to control him.
March 15, 2013
The application of industrial methods and processes in the human spheres of education, family planning, health, and transportation dehumanized society and created underdevelopment for the poor. Illicit crusades against dehumanized institutional approaches to development which mostly recirculate the same sffering they originally embarked on alleviating.
September 28, 2018
At times a little uneven I felt, and although gives the impression of being well meaning and rightfully pointing out certain corrupt and dangerous social institutions, such as Schooling, and medicine, in how they turn us into powerless domesticated beings, there is very little here to suggest how these things could realistically be replaced. There are some basic outlines and guidelines, but mostly it just seems to be an appeal to people's awareness in the hope that future generations with this awareness will do better. I am not sure just having awareness of these kinds of social, moral and practical problems in our world is enough. We need to always be informed for a practical vision for how we are going to act out and implement the things we believe in. And this I feel is something missing from this books at times, and why I only give it 4 star rather than 5 stars. His foreshadowing of difficulties to come with the liberal approach of more schooling, and more this and more that as always the answer, in that it has created a generation of unhappy, and resentful people, institutionally dependent and with less common sense and wisdom for how to makes decisions and empower their own lives, is largely accurate, and a worrying and still relevant warning to our society now.
June 14, 2021
3.5
Illich provides an interesting, at times highly thought-provoking, yet most definitely welcomed voice in the discourse of the western colonizing church's role in social action (both historical and current). Although a bit dated, there is still relevance in some of his arguments.
Illich provides an interesting, at times highly thought-provoking, yet most definitely welcomed voice in the discourse of the western colonizing church's role in social action (both historical and current). Although a bit dated, there is still relevance in some of his arguments.
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July 29, 2021Illich is potentially the most cunning, astute and necessary social critic of all time and because of that the academy and larger intellectual world would rather you forget him
April 17, 2016
The man who tries to buy the language like a suit, the man who tries to conquer the language through grammar so as to speak it "better than the natives around here," the man who forgets the analogy of the silence of God and the silence of others and does not seek its growth in prayer, is a man who tries basically to rape the culture into which he is sent, and he must expect the corresponding reactions.
--"The Eloquence of Silence"
We speak about threat and about challenge because the reaction to transition is very ambiguous. It can allow for new insights, can open new perspectives and therefore confront the person with new awareness of choice. In other words, development can be a setting for salvation which leads to resurrection. But also transition can reduce a bewildered individual to a defensive self-centeredness, to dependence and aggression; it can lead into the agony of a lived destruction of life, straight into hell.
---"The Powerless Church"
...A second look reveals that this school system has built a narrow bridge across a widening social gap. As the only legitimate passage to the middle class, the school restricts all unconventional crossings and leaves the underachiever to bear the blame for his marginality.
---"The Futility of Schooling"
December 31, 2025
A forecast given in 1970 that we can look back on and reflect, we were warned. Look what came true. Look what is still being done. It's organized as a series of essays that challenge the big institutions of the 1970's church, medicine, and education. How Western Civilization actively attempts to modernized the third world countires to need the benefits provided by all three. Even if the styles didn't fit the actual reality of the country being Westernized.
Buses are alternatives to a multitude of private cars. Vehicles designed for slow transportation on rough terrian are alternatives to standard trucks. Safe water is an alternative to high-priced surgery. Medical workers are an alternative to doctors and nurses. Commnity food storage is an alternative to expensive kitchen equipment.
The church bit seemed a bit heavy until I caught the segue into education. No, I did not see that coming.
I think lifelong education credits is a splendid idea. It would work especially well if healthy adults weren't expected to labour every day.
It would be great to review Chapter 11 again and maybe see if there are any available researchers who can "doubt what is obvious to every eye" fifty-five years later.
We can pick up from there...
Buses are alternatives to a multitude of private cars. Vehicles designed for slow transportation on rough terrian are alternatives to standard trucks. Safe water is an alternative to high-priced surgery. Medical workers are an alternative to doctors and nurses. Commnity food storage is an alternative to expensive kitchen equipment.
The church bit seemed a bit heavy until I caught the segue into education. No, I did not see that coming.
I think lifelong education credits is a splendid idea. It would work especially well if healthy adults weren't expected to labour every day.
It would be great to review Chapter 11 again and maybe see if there are any available researchers who can "doubt what is obvious to every eye" fifty-five years later.
We can pick up from there...
August 17, 2020
Interesting. Intro really resonated with me. A dash of a lot of what’s still going on today and holds its relevances
Although, the structure wasn’t something I was into.
Although, the structure wasn’t something I was into.
August 22, 2022
In the Introduction, Erich Fromm notes that Illich’s … humanistic radicalism questions every idea and every institution from the standpoint of whether it helps or hinders man’s capacity for greater aliveness and joy. And more than any writer I know, Illich is utterly relentless in this questioning. No one, and no perspective or ideology, whether capitalism, communism, or religion is not the target of his withering analysis at some point in his writings.
Facing the task of reading Illich is a bit like coming to the chess board and facing a grand master when you have, yourself, what you consider a pretty comprehensive understanding of opening theory. Once the game starts you are soon faced with a move that is entirely new and startling. What is the meaning of this? And what is your response? Perhaps it is a blunder or perhaps a sign of pure genius. Either way, you are now on your own, and your next move is not going to be straightforward. Similarly, how do should you react to some of Illich’s provocations? You really can’t be timid and rely on standard answers. Whether you agree or disagree, you will need to dig deep and find the robust response. If he is wrong, you will - as you would to a blunder in chess - have to find the equally powerful reply. If he is right, you will similarly want to find the strongest challenge to explore the implications. And all this is why reading back-cover statements like, “Illich’s arguments are shrewd, open and passionate” (the Guardian) seem, somehow, to fail - badly - to grapple with the depth of his radical analyses.
These essays are now very old; some date back to the 1950s, and some concern matters - specifically about religion and Catholicism in particular - that don't directly resonate with me at all. Oddly, though, there is almost nowhere where they don't have a contemporary ring: Illilch has had a habit of, if not predicting the future, at least undercutting it before it occurs. In this collection of essays there are several - but one example will suffice. It is a constant theme in these essays to find Illich tackling one subject yet referring constantly to others that appear prima facie to have nothing to do with the plot. This is because he sees, as so few do, how interconnected cultures, politics, and human conditions are in practice. In this passage, focusing on population growth and family planning, Illich is also talking about political power.
”Populations are mindless: they can be managed but not motivated. Only persons can make up their minds; and the more they make up their minds, the less they can be controlled. People who freely decide to control their own fertility have new motivations or aspirations to political control. It is clear that responsible parent to it cannot be separated from the quest for power in politics. Programs that aimed at such goals are unwelcome under the military governments prevailing in South America, and such programs are not the kind usually financed by the United States.” (p. 144)
Here I was reminded of the, much later, policy methodology based on what is called “the nudge” - and also how it turned out that this basically doesn’t work. And it doesn’t work for precisely the reasons Illich was entirely on top of decades before it came to popularity. Astonishingly, he even uses the very word himself, a few pages later:
”To obtain the unreasoned ascent of the majority all kinds of programs are launched, most of them emphasising immediate economic gain for the individual: direct rewards for each contraceptive treatment; oblique favours to small families; subtle, persuasive nudges connecting rising levels of expectation with low fertility. None works well enough. Why?”
Facing the task of reading Illich is a bit like coming to the chess board and facing a grand master when you have, yourself, what you consider a pretty comprehensive understanding of opening theory. Once the game starts you are soon faced with a move that is entirely new and startling. What is the meaning of this? And what is your response? Perhaps it is a blunder or perhaps a sign of pure genius. Either way, you are now on your own, and your next move is not going to be straightforward. Similarly, how do should you react to some of Illich’s provocations? You really can’t be timid and rely on standard answers. Whether you agree or disagree, you will need to dig deep and find the robust response. If he is wrong, you will - as you would to a blunder in chess - have to find the equally powerful reply. If he is right, you will similarly want to find the strongest challenge to explore the implications. And all this is why reading back-cover statements like, “Illich’s arguments are shrewd, open and passionate” (the Guardian) seem, somehow, to fail - badly - to grapple with the depth of his radical analyses.
These essays are now very old; some date back to the 1950s, and some concern matters - specifically about religion and Catholicism in particular - that don't directly resonate with me at all. Oddly, though, there is almost nowhere where they don't have a contemporary ring: Illilch has had a habit of, if not predicting the future, at least undercutting it before it occurs. In this collection of essays there are several - but one example will suffice. It is a constant theme in these essays to find Illich tackling one subject yet referring constantly to others that appear prima facie to have nothing to do with the plot. This is because he sees, as so few do, how interconnected cultures, politics, and human conditions are in practice. In this passage, focusing on population growth and family planning, Illich is also talking about political power.
”Populations are mindless: they can be managed but not motivated. Only persons can make up their minds; and the more they make up their minds, the less they can be controlled. People who freely decide to control their own fertility have new motivations or aspirations to political control. It is clear that responsible parent to it cannot be separated from the quest for power in politics. Programs that aimed at such goals are unwelcome under the military governments prevailing in South America, and such programs are not the kind usually financed by the United States.” (p. 144)
Here I was reminded of the, much later, policy methodology based on what is called “the nudge” - and also how it turned out that this basically doesn’t work. And it doesn’t work for precisely the reasons Illich was entirely on top of decades before it came to popularity. Astonishingly, he even uses the very word himself, a few pages later:
”To obtain the unreasoned ascent of the majority all kinds of programs are launched, most of them emphasising immediate economic gain for the individual: direct rewards for each contraceptive treatment; oblique favours to small families; subtle, persuasive nudges connecting rising levels of expectation with low fertility. None works well enough. Why?”
October 3, 2015
Weirdly dated. And seriously repetitive. I had difficulty understanding quite why, of all the social ills in the developing world, this man thought that sending children to school was the worst. Unbelievable, really. Has education been worse than the Roman catholic church for the poor of the world? Ya think? Obviously, this book was written before AIDS, so Illich couldn't have known how many millions of Africans would die because the pope hates condoms. But didn't he really have any insight into how religion in all its forms would inevitably cripple poor countries that needed secular Enlightenment thinking above all else to aid their development?
August 26, 2008
This book is a compilation of articles by Ivan Illich written around the mid to late 60s taking a critical view of the church and its notion of development for the poor in latin America and a several potshots at the US of A and its alliance for progress
April 17, 2015
This collection of essays mostly centers around calls for radical institutional and social reforms in the Catholic church in the 1960s, which can easily be applied to broader social contexts. An interesting piece of radical leftist history.
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April 26, 2017Not everthing in the realm of our shared understanding and knowing has to necessarily find expression in the form of spoken words or in written text or as some complex philosophical idea or concept.
To me, spoken language or a piece of text in-itself has no previleged access to any understanding or knowing. Rather knowing or understanding resides only in our actual Being and Experience and perhaps in how others can also experience us. There are infact, even chances of language being used for sabotaging or for expressing understanding, depending on usage. It is never a substitute for understanding or knowing.
Life would be am unbearable chatter-box, if all that resides in our understanding and mind had to always find its articulation in words - spoken or written !! Thoughtfulness can of course never really run short for words but is always more than what the best of words can express.
To me, spoken language or a piece of text in-itself has no previleged access to any understanding or knowing. Rather knowing or understanding resides only in our actual Being and Experience and perhaps in how others can also experience us. There are infact, even chances of language being used for sabotaging or for expressing understanding, depending on usage. It is never a substitute for understanding or knowing.
Life would be am unbearable chatter-box, if all that resides in our understanding and mind had to always find its articulation in words - spoken or written !! Thoughtfulness can of course never really run short for words but is always more than what the best of words can express.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews