Ivan Illich
Also known as Ivan Dominic Illich
Austrian priest and social critic (1926 to 2002) of schooling, medicine and institutions.
At a glance
Main ideas
Deschooling, Learning webs, Radical monopoly …
See all 6Books to start with
Deschooling Society, Tools for Conviviality, Energy and Equity …
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Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Illich was a Catholic priest, theologian and philosopher who criticised modern institutions.
- His 1971 book Deschooling Society argued that institutional schooling alienates people from learning and cannot be reformed.
- Medical Nemesis (1975) argued that overmedicalisation harms health.
- In Cuernavaca, Mexico, he founded the centre that became CIDOC, which he shut down in 1976.
- He called himself "an errant pilgrim".
Why it matters
- His critique of schools, medicine and expert monopolies still shapes unschooling, medical harm and arguments about technology that serves its users.
Key facts
- Born
- 4 Sep 1926, Vienna, Austria1
- Died
- 2 Dec 2002, Bremen, Germany1
- Education
- Histology and crystallography at the University of Florence; doctorate in medieval history, University of Salzburg; theology and philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome1
- Ordained
- Catholic priest, Rome, 1951; later renounced active priesthood1
- Puerto Rico
- Vice-rector of the Catholic University of Puerto Rico from 1956 to 19601
- Founded
- The Center of Intercultural Formation in Cuernavaca, Mexico, in 1961, later CIDOC; closed in 19761
- Taught
- Penn State (visiting professor), the University of Bremen and the University of Hagen1
Main ideas
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Deschooling1
Compulsory schooling cannot be reformed; it has to be dismantled so people can learn freely.
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Learning webs1
In 1971 he proposed computer-matched networks for people to find peers to learn with.
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Radical monopoly1
Professional elites monopolise health, farming, building and learning, producing "modernized poverty" and dependency.
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Medical nemesis1
Medicalising birth, death and other life events often does more harm than good; he popularised iatrogenic disease.
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Conviviality1
Tools should be developed and kept by communities of users; the idea influenced early personal-computer builders such as Lee Felsenstein.
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Corruption of the best1
Institutionalising Christian love into rules corrupts it: "the corruption of the best is the worst".
Books to start with
The line under a date fills as it gets older: empty when new, full at 2 years.
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His critique of compulsory mass education.
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Tools for Conviviality1
Generalises the critique to expert institutions and technology.
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Energy and Equity1
On energy use and social inequality.
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Medical Nemesis1
Also known as Limits to Medicine; an attack on overmedicalisation.
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Shadow Work1
Unpaid work in industrial society.
Connections
Writes
Links
Sources
Last checked against its sources today
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