Open Forum series

Tools for Conviviality is a 1973 book by Ivan Illich exploring the history of technology and tools. Illich proposes the idea of a 'convivial tool', one which allows its user to exercise their human autonomy and creativity. He draws a contrast between these convivial tools, which extend human capability, and the tools of industrial society, which have gone beyond that original goal and have become destructive to human autonomy and ingenuity. The book introduced Illich's concept of 'conviviality' and of a 'radical monopoly', ideas which have become influential to the discourse around degrowth and appropriate technology.