Monday, November 19, 2012

More celebrations, at State College and in Antwerp

Just as we were saying to a friend that it seemed no events were planned in the U.S. to mark the tenth anniversary of Ivan Illich's death, word has arrived that there will, in fact, be a small celebration at Penn State. And we've also been informed of an event planned for Antwerp, Belgium.

The Penn State affair will take place Dec. 3, from 7 to 8:30PM, with a panel of faculty members remembering Illich's life and contributions. All are welcome to attend, light refreshments will be served. The event will be held in 112 Walker Building. More information is available from the estimable Dana L. Stuchul.

The Antwerp event is to take place Dec. 1 at the university there. One of our spies, reporting from Holland, writes:

It's from 10 till 16, and the speakers will explore the legacy of Illich. The flyer says they "wish to explore whether Illich left us a utopia, or a guide we're currently missing in the jungle of alternatives for the crisis" (free translation). There will be three lectures, concluded with a debate between the speakers. Of the speakers, the only one I'm familiar with is Hans Achterhuis, our "denker des vaderlands" (thinker of our country, some sort of title they give to a philosopher each year). Occasionally I stumble across an article or interview with him, in which he quite regularly quotes Illich. In the Netherlands, he is somewhat famous for his book De markt van welzijn en geluk (The market of well-being and happiness, I don't know wether it is translated in other languages) in which he gives a critique on our welfaresystem, based on Illich.



Illich flyerIllich 2

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