[D66] The Right to Useful Unemployment

[R.O.]

https://archive.ica.art/sites/default/files/downloads/Ivan%20Illich_%20The%20Right%20to%20Useful%20Unemployment.pdf


On 20-08-2020 09:27, R.O. wrote:
> https://sustainabilitypopulareducation.wordpress.com/2014/06/28/the-right-to-useful-unemployment/
>
>
>     The Right To Useful Unemployment
>     <https://sustainabilitypopulareducation.wordpress.com/2014/06/28/the-right-to-useful-unemployment/>
>
> Posted on June 28, 2014 
> <https://sustainabilitypopulareducation.wordpress.com/2014/06/28/the-right-to-useful-unemployment/> 
> by mfinck311 
> <https://sustainabilitypopulareducation.wordpress.com/author/mfinck311/>
>
> the-right-to-useful-unemployment 
> <https://sustainabilitypopulareducation.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/the-right-to-useful-unemployment.jpg>
>
> In The Right to Useful Unemployment, Ivan Illich suggests that we need 
> to break the association of the definition of work with that of the 
> coupling of labor force and capital. For him, we must replace the 
> status of the social relationship that commands production with the 
> beneficial outcomes of effort; the achievement of satisfaction which 
> flows from action.
>
> He suggests 3 principle ideas: that in commodity based societies the 
> sheer abundance of commodities paralyzes the autonomous determination 
> of use-value, that professions play a hidden role in society by 
> shaping its needs, and that we must illuminate the illusions and break 
> the professional power that perpetuates market dependance. 
> Essentially, the power of professions to measure what is good, right, 
> and done warps the desire, willingness, and ability of the “common 
> person” to live within their means.
>
> Unemployment means idleness, rather than the freedom to do things 
> which are useful for oneself or ones neighbor. An active person who 
> maintains a household and raises children while taking in those of 
> others is distinguished from one who “works” no matter how damaging or 
> useless the product of that work may be. Housework, handicrafts, 
> subsistence agriculture, radical technology, learning exchanges, and 
> the like are degraded as fringe activities for the idle, the 
> unproductive, the very rich, or very poor.
>
> The quality of a society and it’s culture depends on the status of 
> it’s unemployed. We must protect the freedom of people to be useful 
> outside the activities that result in the production of commodities. 
> This depends on the rational and cynical competence of the common 
> person when faced with the professional imputation of needs.
>
> Ultimately, Illich says we need to destroy the symbolic power of 
> expertise, and that professional establishments protect their 
> legitimacy in 3 principle ways: Professional self policing, 
> professional alliances, and the professionalization of clients, often 
> in the form of “self-help.”
>
> Illich suggests we must shift towards a participative conception of 
> justice, and resist training for extreme specialization.
>
>
>
>
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