Ivan Illich

Ivan Illich (1926-2002) was born in Vienna, Austria, and grew up in Europe. A Croatian-Austrian philosopher, Roman Catholic priest, and polemical critic of the institutions of Western culture, he could appear as a stern, forbidding character, which he put down to "growing up in five languages, but without a mother tongue". He is the author of more than fourteen books, including those addressing education ( Deschooling Society , 1971), technological development ( Tools For Conviviality , 1973),...See more

Ivan Illich (1926-2002) was born in Vienna, Austria, and grew up in Europe. A Croatian-Austrian philosopher, Roman Catholic priest, and polemical critic of the institutions of Western culture, he could appear as a stern, forbidding character, which he put down to "growing up in five languages, but without a mother tongue". He is the author of more than fourteen books, including those addressing education ( Deschooling Society , 1971), technological development ( Tools For Conviviality , 1973), energy, transport and economic development ( Energy And Equity , 1974), medicine ( Medical Nemesis , 1974), work ( The Right To Useful Unemployment And Its Professional Enemies , 1978); Shadow Work , 1981), and gender ( Gender, 1982). He analyzed the corruption of institutions which, he said, ended up by performing the opposite of their original purpose. He was greatly influenced by J.C. Kumarappa, an Indian economist and adviser to Gandhi, most notably his book Economy of Permanence . See less