Bookcover. source
Convivial tools are tools & technologies for enacting the commons in open, enlivening ways.
The concept is inspired by the croatio-austrian philosopher Ivan Illich (wiki 
). In 1973 he published 'Tools for Conviviality', with a strong focus on spotting the thresholds where (industrial)
"productivity backfires into counter-productivity." (Vetter 2016:4)
We use Illich's term but refer to a framework developed by Andrea Vetter in her phd research between 2011 and 2017. Vetter speaks about "convivial technologies", a term Illich did not use.
For Ivan Illich the word 'tool' ...
”was not restricted to technology in a narrow sense ... but referred to all kinds of rationally designed institutions like schools and bureaucracies." (Illich,1973).
The idea of interdependence is central to both: - interdependence between human beings - interdependence between human beings and technology
We conclude from conviviality literature, that there is a need for creativity and autonomy *for and through* the use of convivial tools & technologies. Using convivial tooles helps making a given commons structurally independent from proprietarian tools and contributes to commoning as a creatively adaptive process.
# The Five Core Dimensions of Convivial Tools
In the following, the five dimensions will be named, shortly explained and illustrated by an example. The complete framework assesses each dimension according to the level of material, production, use ore infrastructure.
- Relatedness Convivialists assume that human beings are capable and even depending on relating to others. Tools, technologies and infrastructures are crucial for enacting and performing these relations. Therefore, developing and using convivial technology implies expanding the realm of humanity. -> building composting toilet systems or kitchen waste bokashi are driven by the desire to
"be part of an ecological cycle and to be able to directly see this relatedness on their own ground, in their own garden."
# Realms of Implementation
- CONSTITUTING TOOLS: foundational structures of state power vs foundational structures of commoning - Tools for KNOWLEDGE CREATION: - SOCIALIZING TOOLS: national vs commons narratives, rituals, ethics, norms - INFRASTRUCTURES: "natural monopolies" vs. collaborative infrastructures - FINANCE: State Treasury vs collaborative finance - Legal Tools or simply LAW: State Laws vs Vernacular Law
# See also Conviviality, Use of Convivial Tools,
# Sources
Andrea Vetter (2017): The Matrix of Convivial Technologies. pdf
Ivan Illich (1973): Tools for Conviviality
# Notes "disposal is not listed as a separate level, because in the concept of convivial technologies disposal is already closely linked to materials and production and can be dealt within these levels" (Vetter)