Illich, Ivan

(b. 1926)

   Educationalist and Social Theorist.

   Illich was born in Austria and was educated at the Gregorian University in Rome and the University of Salzburg. After moving to the New World, he founded the Center for Intercultural Documentation in Mexico which became the focus for seminars on alternative societies. Among his books were Deschooling Society and Limits to Medicine. In both he argued for more openness, less mystifying technology and the right of ordinary people to be involved in decisions affecting their own lives. His work was highly influential in the 1970s although his ideas are now generally considered to be more practical for developing countries than for the rich Western world.

   P. Lund, Ivan Illich and his Antics (1978);

   I. Lister (ed.), Deschooling: A Reader (1974);

   J. Ohlinger, Lifelong Learning or Lifelong Schooling? A Tentative View of the Ideas of Ivan Illich (1971).