Draft of "Tools for Conviviality"
Translation of "POLITICAL INVERSION by Ivan Illich, 1972".
This book is a translation of the following treatise by Ivan Illich, with a book guide and translator's notes added, and has a unique structure as a Japanese version. There is.
Political Inversin - a draft, “CDIOC Doc. A/E 72/353”, Cuernavaca, 1971. 12. CIDOCCuaderno No.78 CIDOC, 1972 (P.ⅳ, legend)
"Political Inversion" is a draft of the published book "Tools for Conviviality". (Same)
I haven't read "Tools for Conviviality". "Conviviality" is written as "Conviviality" in this book. The pronunciation "ii" doesn't exist in Japanese, so I think this is the translator's preference.
Ilyich's essay (``Political Inversion'') is approximately 91 pages including notes, which is about half of the total. As the title suggests, the topic is ``political transformation,'' and how to change politics. Anti-war movements against the Vietnam War grew in the United States, and the Vietnam War ended in 1968. In this vein, Ilyich criticizes the resistance groups who organized the March on the Pentagon for their complete lack of understanding of the Third World. In other words, Ilyich strategically published his paper, predicting that after the end of the Vietnam War, people would turn their attention to the Third World. Here, Ilyich points out that there is a certain similarity between the United States' military and political intervention in Vietnam and its economic aid to Latin America, ostensibly for the benefit of the other party. However, he pointed out that both are essentially "violence." (P.133, "Translator's Notes")
Tools
In order for individuals to move or live, they need various tools. will do. Individuals also need medical treatment when they are sick, and qualities that allow them to interact with each other. However, there are some things that people cannot do on their own, even though they need them. Therefore, in such cases, we also use what other people have created. In other words, people depend to some extent on the way goods and services are provided, and this way differs from culture to culture. (P.2)
Tools and humans cannot be separated, such as ``Humans are animals that use tools'' or ``Humans are animals that make tools.'' At school, we learned things like, ``Humans don't have fangs or sharp claws. They aren't fast or strong. Their body hair has degenerated and they're naked. In order for such humans to survive, they needed tools.'' I think so. And that ``language is also a tool'' for ``running a social life''.
Ilyich says that ``how tools are provided and how they are used'' differs between cultures. Later, the word ``culture'' was replaced by the word ``vernacular.'' "It varies depending on the region." In ``Gender,'' it is said that ``Men and women use different tools.''
Congestion
Congestion during commuting hours or when heading to sightseeing spots for leisure can be frustrating. I stare at the car in front of me and think to myself, ``I don't need to be in a car at this time of year. If that car wasn't there, I could have gone much faster.'' The reason for this is that ``I'' think that way and go out by car (lol).
Traffic congestion on roads leading to a central city has nothing to do with how many cars local residents have. (P.4)
And in any society, the more people think that they must own a car, the fewer people will try to let a hitchhiker ride in that empty seat. I tend to. In other words, conviviality declines as productivity increases. (P.4-5)
With the increase in the speed of the Shinkansen, a business trip between Tokyo and Osaka has become a "day trip." Until then, I was able to stay overnight on business trips to recharge my spirits and have a relaxing drink, but I no longer have that luxury. Faster speeds have made things "busier."
Cheaper, safer, less polluting cars that travel faster on wider, better roads offer their owners a safer package. This frees up your time to be more busy. Ford may get criticized for an undesirable car, but then all it has to do is produce a desirable car. Ford can't be faulted for the fact that its output of increasing cars is increasing the pain of transportation. (P.50-51)
The gradual increase in speed only increases the time spent and is bound to increase the levels of pollution, wasteful spending and unhealthy living. This is to transfer the . (P.70)
Even if there is a car running that emits black smoke, the owner is only to be blamed, not the company that made it. I live in a society that doesn't think that way.
Medical care (insurance), school
Illiichi criticizes the medical system and school system, and questions the state of science (academics), but each There is a book called ``Society'' and ``De-hospitalization Society,'' so I will omit it here (lol).
I often hear the phrase "(necessary) minimum...". The whole term ``social security system'' is based on that word. "Minimum education = compulsory education," "minimum medical care = (public) medical insurance system," "minimum income = minimum wage, welfare," etc. All political parties now have a policy of "raising" that "minimum."
Ilyich objects to that. For example, regarding "education",
The guarantee of a minimum level of education has been transformed into the obligation to receive a minimum number of years of education. As a result, if they drop out, they are immediately thrust into a dark world, branded as so-called anti-social, and unable to find a job. (P.57)
Students who have achieved only the legal minimum level of schooling find that they are wasting their time in school. . In other words, what they have acquired is something that is undervalued in the market. Because others are getting better and newer programs. (P.58)
Many people realize that what they learn at school (compulsory education) is not used at all (almost) when they go out into society. That's what I'm doing. If that's the case, the "time" we spend going to school is nothing but "waste." If you have to endure ``wasted time,'' it can't be helped if ``bullying'' occurs.
Even in the medical field, some people say that Japan has a world-class ``universal health insurance'' system, but some people say that ``social insurance premiums'' that are forcibly deducted from salaries are ``unavoidable.'' There are many people who feel this way, and there are also many people who are unable to pay their National Health Insurance premiums and are subject to ``foreclosure.''
Consumption of legally mandated medical services takes many forms. Forced isolation from society through psychiatric hospitals, forced medicalization and observation by social workers as an alternative to social isolation, forced vaccinations, and hospitalization of childbirth. (P.80, note)
The upper limit on consumption
Ilyich's "political transformation" is simple in a sense. Rather than setting a "minimum (lower limit)", why not set an "upper limit"?
New and radical politics means putting the need for caps on per capita consumption at the center of our global aspirations. That means planning technologies for human use that will replace current technologies that subordinate human needs to blindly increasing productivity. (P.24)
Even if public resources were to be used for this purpose, if limits were not set on a broad basis in society, There is no point in discussing the lower bound of . (P.76)
If it is possible for a specific person to consume at a ``blue ceiling,'' no matter how much you set a lower limit (minimum), it is ``meaningless.'' Isn't it possible to make this happen? It's like trying to fill a bottomless pot with water. Even if everyone's income increases by 10% (or 100,000 yen), the gap between rich and poor will not disappear (it will not change). Even if everyone's walking speed doubles, whether they are fast or slow will not change. If everyone had a refrigerator in their home, many products would require a refrigerator, and it would become unimaginable to live without one.
It's not just about criticizing the ``throwaway culture'' or being connected to ``environmental protection.'' This means reconsidering the fundamentals of the relationship between humans and "goods and services." ``Tools for conviviality'' refers to the ``way of relationship'' between ``humans and tools (things or other people)''.
I chose the term ``conviviality'' to refer to the opposite of institutionalized productivity. I want this term to mean autonomous and creative intercourse between people and between people and the environment. I would like to contrast this with people's conditioned responses to the demands of others and their living environment (milieu). (P.3)
It is said that the Japanese word ``mottainai'' is being used less and less. I guess more and more people are feeling the word ``poverty'' when they hear that word. ``Taking care of things'' is the same as ``taking care of people.'' It has become commonplace to refer to goods and services (people) as "resources." Things and people that become resources are "used" and then "discarded." Refrigerators not only become ``necessities,'' but also when refrigerators with new functions (such as energy saving) become available, refrigerators that can still be used are replaced (throw away) because they ``save electricity bills.''
Ilyich says.
Also, in any society, when combibiality is lowered below a certain level, the level of industrial productivity will become more effective at meeting the various needs of the members of that society. I am convinced that it cannot be fulfilled.
Productivity has been sanctified and worshiped in such a way that the goals of today's existing systems can only be achieved if people sacrifice their compatibility. However, this is the main cause of the amorphousness and meaninglessness that plague modern society. (P.3-4)
What is “conviviality”?
Up to this point, I have proceeded without writing about it. Ta. I don't know what kind of thoughts Ilyich put into these words, or whether he was able to explain them well. I didn't know this word until recently. I don't feel like memorizing unfamiliar words with 8 (10) katakana characters unless I need to. I'm not blessed with a good memory, so every time I come across a new katakana word, I get confused. The translator says,
The term "tool" is also "something inherent in various social relationships" (a similar line appears in "Gender" [Japanese translation page 191]). ) and concludes that ``individuals relate their actions to society through the use of tools,'' but that ``most of the tools we have today cannot be used in a ``combibial mode.'''' This is because they are (1) too large, (2) there is only one program, and (3) they are luxurious and can only be used by a few people. On the other hand, tools that foster compatibility are: (1) easy for anyone to use, (2) simple in shape, (3) easy to learn how to use, (4) small, and (5) accessible but not forced. (P.146-147)
How we use things (tools) is closely related to how they are made. “Freedom to use” is related to “freedom to create.” Ilyich explains with the example of "Prisoner".
By the way, prisoners often have access to more goods and services than members of their own families. (P.4)
Prisoners don't have to worry about eating, and if they get sick they receive (free) medical care. Some people say, ``It's easier to live in prison than in Shaba.''
However, prisoners have no say in how they are created, nor can they decide what to do with them. In other words, the prisoners' punishment is such that they are deprived of what I would like to call ``conviviality.'' (Same)
We don't often think about "how the tools in front of us were made" or "why they are there." Is it something your parents bought you, something your parents gave you, something you stole, or something you made? I think I'm starting to stop thinking about it. I believe that whether something is stolen or something you have made (yourself), it is the same as a ``thing (tool)/use value.'' This is the ``freedom to use.'' Children are free to refuse the food their parents have cooked for them, saying they don't need it, and to throw away the toys they bought them in the trash. What so. Ilyichi has doubts about that "freedom to use (create)".
Illiichi is "Conviviality"
Autonomous and creative intercourse between people and between people and the environment ( P.3)
. In today's society, the "autonomy" of the user and the "autonomy" of the creator are separated.
I regard ``conviviality'' as individual freedom that is embodied in the mutual dependence of people, and as such, I think of it as a certain inherent ethical value. I am. Therefore, I am convinced that without ``conviviality'' life loses meaning and has a detrimental effect on people. (P.3)
Whether or not to recognize the ``freedom and autonomy (autonomy) of self and others'' is a question of ``ethics.''
Conviviality is not a commons
My proposal for a new radical politics is that we should set an upper limit on consumption. It's a far cry from the neo-Luddite movement. What I am proposing is not to reduce the total quality of the tools we use in our lives. What I am proposing is a fundamental re-evaluation of the part that tools play in society and the social lives of individuals. (P.77)
I'm not saying to destroy things, but I'm also not saying to limit "freedom (of production or consumption)." .
Nevertheless, we do not advocate making it available to everyone (public ownership, sharing, ). There is no doubt that the deprivation (plundering) of the ``commons'' creates ``scarcity,'' in Ilyich's later words.
In the process of writing this book, I used a new method to do what the industrial age had irrevocably destroyed: Tools for Conviviality. I came to understand more than what I had considered in (1971). Only the transformation of commons into resources can be likened to the transformation of gender into sex. ("Gender" P.21, Japanese translation P.15-16)
However, this does not mean aiming for "recovery of the commons."
Only half of the people there can even touch tools that are supposed to be used communally. By grasping a tool and using it, a person engages in the appropriate gender. This is why the interaction between the two genders, male and female, is social in nature. Separate sets of tools define the material contrasts and complementarities of life. (“Gender” P.90, Japanese translation P.191) "Gender" p.20, Japanese translation p.15). I think that for Ilyich, ``how to relate to things'' was not a question of ``autonomy'' or ``ethics,'' but ``a problem of ethics'' itself became a ``problem.'' . The translator expresses this change as follows.
In other words, this subject is based on the idea that autonomous individuals have the potential to live combibially if they make good use of industrial resources. When Ilyich himself reaches the point where he considers himself an industrial product, he loses any hope of speaking about the future and seems to concentrate solely on retracing his tragic history. (P.176, translator's note)
There is no doubt that the individual (individuality, autonomy, independence, etc.) and its "freedom and equality" are "products of modern Western Europe."
I would like to illustrate this by reading into the past and reflecting back on the current situation. There's nothing I know or can say about the future. ” (“Gender” P.21, Japanese translation P.16)
Is this an expression of “losing hope”? I don't think so.
It is also said that "tools are an extension of the body." The way we relate to tools is the way we relate to the ``body'' (medical care), and the way we relate to the ``self'' (education). And it is the way we relate to "other selves" and "others." I think Ilyich was unable to stop because he realized that this was a product of Western modernity. Before that,
The book is therefore presented in a way that brings the story of the industrial age and its monsters to a close. (“Gender” P.21, Japanese translation P.16) I think the powerful words “
” express Ilyichi’s determination.
About the translated word
The translator said that the reason for using the translated word "conviviality" is that
The first important thing is that it is hasty and arbitrary. It is not a matter of deciding on a translation, but rather how we can read the context of Ilyichi, and this should help us to enrich and deepen our thinking. (P.166, translator's note)
This is a courageous decision.
Japan is a translation culture. And most people can get by with just the translation, and most people don't even read the original. I can't read anything other than Japanese, so I can't refer to Ilyich's works that don't have translations. At the same time as Japan imported ``letters'' called ``kanji,'' it also imported an idea called ``kango (kanbun).'' Since then, I have become accustomed to understanding other cultures using "kanji". Furthermore, translations from the Meiji era onwards generally use two or four kanji characters, with four to six syllables (this comes from Chinese phonetics), and the two kanji on-yomi characters are familiar. At the same time, Japanese people are accustomed to the fact that words with two kanji characters are ``big words'' and ``mean something.'' And that creates the misunderstanding that ``I understand.'' Words such as ``freedom,'' ``equality,'' and ``autonomy'' are circulated as if they ``need no explanation.''
Furthermore, Katakana has a "high-color" feel. The term "gender free" is thrown around in official places, but it is unclear whether the people saying it or listening to it understand it. Many people probably don't know that it is "Japanese English" (I didn't) (Wikipedia).
Furthermore, from an etymological perspective, there is a view that the word ``symbiosis'' can be derived. In other words, it is based on the articulation of conviviality, that con- means both, and -vivir means liveliness. Deciding on translations in this way may not be wrong, but it must be done after giving due consideration to the underlying meaning of the word. At the very least, words that have been endowed with a certain ideology should not be easily reduced to their segmented etymological meanings.
Also, in English, convivial means a banquet, a social gathering, a banquet-like cheerfulness, a pleasant feast, etc., and conviviality now means a banquet, good humor, cheerfulness. . However, using the dictionary translation as is does not necessarily match the context of Ilyichi. The idea that it is bad to use katakana indiscriminately has meaning in the conflict between the two, and the fact that the words of unique ideas cannot be easily translated into Japanese, and it is important to respect only one of them. I believe that doing so will only create more problems. ” (P.165-166, translator's note)
It's difficult. Many of the translated words from the Meiji period were decided (created) with this etymology in mind, the Chinese language in mind, and the meaning of the original language. Japanese is basically two kanji characters. They can be stacked to make four letters, or put "target" in between to make five letters, but there isn't much more to it than that (it's not natural for words to get longer and longer like in German). If you see six or more kanji characters lined up, you might reconsider and think, ``The meaning must end somewhere.'' The same goes for Katakana. I'm not used to deciphering more than 8 to 10 characters at a glance (I'm used to writing with a mixture of kanji and kana). "Conviviality" has 10 characters. "Con Viviality" would be fine (because it sounds like a person's name). I feel that this difficulty in reading katakana hindered the spread of Ilyichi's ideas.
If you are an English speaker, you will probably feel that this word has nuances such as "together, noisy, lively, lively, lively." I think Ilyichi also put his own feelings into the nuances of this word.
Because this theoretical perspective is a new attempt, and because there is a lack of empirical research from this perspective, I felt it was often necessary to use new terminology. However, I will try to state the theory and illustrations as accurately as possible, using traditional words in new ways. ("Gender" P.19, Japanese translation P.14-15)
I don't know if the translator's judgment was correct. However, as the number of introductory books and manuals continues to increase, it is often the case that we only read the ``essence'' of a famous book or the ``synopsis'' of a story and feel like we have ``read it (or seen it).'' Editing movies to make them shorter and distributing them has become a problem, but I also often watch recorded programs at 1.5x speed. If I were a ``creator,'' I wouldn't want to be viewed that way. Regardless of the translation, what Ilyich is trying to say can only be understood by ``reading the contents.'' This is unavoidable for people like me who cannot read in the original language, but there are ``difficulties in reading in the original language'' and ``difficulties in reading in translation'' when it comes to understanding.
I think the very existence of introductory books, double-speed translation, and translation is a problem of compatibility.